Behavioral changes following radiation: II. Maternal behavioral and maze performance

Effects of partial-body X-radiation on learning of inbred strains of mice

“…Levinson (1952) found that X-radiation of rat embryos resulted in poorer maze learners (measured 50 days after birth). Tait et al (1952) demon strated the same type of effect. Furchtgott et al (1958) confirmed these results and demonstrated a dose-age relationship.…”

EFFECTS OF RADIATION ON THE BEHAVIOR OF ANIMALS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. Appendix to 1972 Progress Report.

“…Tait et al (1952) and Levinson (1952) report that irradiated animals and the offspring of animals receiving radiation were significantly poorer maze performers than control animals. Mice neonatally exposed to 100 or 800 r of x-irradiation took longer than controls to complete a maze (Orr, 1967).…”

The effects of neonatal X-irradiation upon learning in the rat.

“…The adult nervous system is highly resistant to ionizing radiation at dosage levels which severely damage many other tissues (Prosser, 1947), Sublethal X irradiation of adult rats (Arnold, 1952;Furchtgott, 1951;Tait, Wall, Balrnuth, & Kaplan, 1952) and monkeys (Davis, McDowell, Deter, & Steele, 1956;Kaplan, Gentry, Melching, & Dclit, 1954;Moon, Harlow, & Bogumill, 1955) produces few demonstrable effects upon learning. However, irradiation of fetal rats has been found to produce marked decrements in the adult learning of these animals (Levinson, 1952;Tait et al, 1952), the extent of the deficit being a function of dosage level and age at irradiation. On the other hand, the performance of rats irradiated at three weeks of age seems to be as highly resistant to X irradiation as that of irradiated adult animals.…”