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Protein malnutrition induces structural, neurochemical and functional changes in the central nervous system leading to alterations in cognitive and behavioral development of rats. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of postnatal protein malnutrition on learning and memory tasks. Previously malnourished (6% protein) and well-nourished rats (16% protein) were tested in three experiments: working memory tasks in the Morris water maze (Experiment I), recognition memory of objects (Experiment II), and working memory in the water T-maze (Experiment III). The results showed higher escape latencies in malnourished animals in Experiment I, lower recognition indexes of malnourished animals in Experiment II, and no differences due to diet in Experiment III. It is suggested that protein malnutrition imposed on early life of rats can produce impairments on both working memory in the Morris maze and recognition memory in the open field tests.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Mouth breathing syndrome is very common among school-age children, and it is possibly related to learning difficulties and low academic achievement. In this study, we investigated working memory, reading comprehension and arithmetic skills in children with nasal and mouth breathing. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional study with control group conducted in a public university hospital. METHODS: 42 children (mean age = 8.7 years) who had been identified as mouth breathers were compared with a control group (mean age = 8.4 years) matched for age and schooling. All the participants underwent a clinical interview, tone audiometry, otorhinolaryngological evaluation and cognitive assessment of phonological working memory (numbers and pseudowords), reading comprehension and arithmetic skills. RESULTS: Children with mouth breathing had poorer performance than controls, regarding reading comprehension (P = 0.006), arithmetic (P = 0.025) and working memory for pseudowords (P = 0.002), but not for numbers (P = 0.76). CONCLUSION: Children with mouth breathing have low academic achievement and poorer phonological working memory than controls. Teachers and healthcare professionals should be aware of the association of mouth breathing with children's physical and cognitive health. RESUMO CONTEXTO E OBJETIVO:A síndrome da respiração oral é muito comum em crianças em idade escolar, e está possivelmente relacionada a dificuldades de aprendizagem e baixo rendimento escolar. Neste estudo, investigamos memória operacional, compreensão de leitura e habilidades aritméticas em crianças com respiração nasal e oral. TIPO DE ESTUDO E LOCAL: Estudo transversal analítico com grupo controle realizado em hospital universitário público. MÉTODOS: 42 crianças (média = 8,7 anos) identificadas com respiração oral foram comparadas a um grupo controle (média = 8,4 anos) e pareadas por idade e escolaridade. Todos os participantes foram submetidos a entrevista clínica, audiometria tonal, avaliação otorrinolaringológica e avaliação cognitiva da memória operacional fonológica (números e pseudopalavras), compreensão de leitura e aritmética. RESULTADOS: Crianças com respiração oral tiveram desempenho significativamente inferior ao de respiradores nasais em compreensão de leitura (P = 0,006), aritmética (P = 0,025) e memória operacional para pseudopalavras (P = 0,002), mas não para números (P = 0,76). CONCLUSÕES: Crianças com respiração oral apresentam baixo rendimento escolar e menor memória operacional fonológica em comparação ao grupo controle. Professores e profissionais da saúde devem atentar para a associação da respiração oral com a saúde física e cognitiva das crianças.

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The present study investigated the effects of early protein malnutrition on the spatial learning and memory processes. The consequences of malnutrition for the cholinergic system were evaluated by comparing the performance of malnourished and control animals in the Morris water maze after treatment with scopolamine. The learning test consisted of placing the animal in the maze to escape to a submerged platform with 12 trials per day for two consecutive days. After 24 trials, the platform was removed, the rats were placed in the maze and the time spent by them in each quadrant was recorded. After 28 days the animals were tested in a single trial to verify the retention of the spatial information. In the first Experiment, scopolamine (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg/kg per ml. i.p.) was administered 20 min before the experimental sessions. In the second experiment, a dose of 0.6 mg/kg was administered after the sessions, during the period in which learning consolidation occurs. In the first experiment, there was a significant effect of the drug, with scopolamine impairing, learning in both nutritional conditions. In the saline condition, control animals presented a better performance when compared with malnourished animals. However, 28 days later, both groups increased their latencies. With 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg of scopolamine, the performance of both nutritional groups was similar and with 0.6 mg/kg malnourished animals performed better than controls. In the second experiment, malnourished animals were also less reactive to the effects of scopolamine, resulting in lower impairments as compared to control animals. These data suggest long-term changes in learning and memory as the result of changes produced by protein malnutrition in the cholinergic neurotransmitter system.

Objective: to determine the occurrence of children with poor school performance and to investigate which intrinsic influences are most prevalent among them. Methods: a total of 104 children from the 1st grade to the 5th of elementary school participated in phase 1 (selection of children with poor school performance by a standardized test and based on average grade) and 56 of them (54%) were classified as having poor school performance. In phase 2 (differential diagnosis), 35 of these 56 children underwent multidisciplinary assessments and the results were submitted to a descriptive analysis. Results: out of the 35 children who completed phase 2, 18 (51%) were diagnosed with mood disorder (2 - 6% depression; 16 - 45% anxiety disorder/signs), 14 (40%) showed attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, 1 (3%) showed specific language disorder and 1 (3%) showed specific learning disorder. Among the most prevalent changes in reading/writing/arithmetic dysortography (19 children - 54%) and the presence of non-literate children (10 - 29%) were observed. Conclusions: more than a half of the school-age children studied had learning deficits in written language and/or arithmetic, and the most prevalent intrinsic variables were internalizing disorders and the attention deficit/hyperactivity one.

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RESUMO Objetivo: analisar as produções escritas de crianças com dificuldades em leitura/escrita. Métodos: 171 crianças, matriculadas no 4º/5º do ensino fundamental constituíram dois grupos: G1 (n=50) - crianças sem dificuldades em leitura/escrita, G2 (n=121) - crianças com dificuldades nessas tarefas. Cada criança, após observar uma figura estímulo, deveria escrever um texto. Foi analisado a grafia, os erros ortográficos, as variáveis linguísticas e o conteúdo deste. Resultados: em G2 observou-se alterações em relação à grafia; maior percentual de ocorrência de erros ortográficos e de diversos tipos; mesma proporção no uso de substantivos, adjetivos e pronomes, porém dificuldade na conjugação verbal e no uso de advérbios temporais. Em relação ao conteúdo, apenas descreveram a cena e demonstraram vocabulário restrito e pouca criatividade. Conclusão: a produção escrita de crianças com dificuldade em leitura/escrita apresentou diversas falhas entre as quais: alterações na grafia, presença de erros ortográficos e limitação na construção de texto, restringindo-se a simples descrição do desenho estímulo, com pouca articulação de idéias e sem criação de personagens, local e tempo para a sua história. Este conjunto de falhas compromete a inteligibilidade do texto pelo leitor e demonstra que a elaboração escrita é uma tarefa complexa para essas crianças.