Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:47:37.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Parasitic infection in malnourished school children: effects on behaviour and EEG

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

M. Levav ,
A. F. Mirsky ,
P. M. Schantz ,
S. Castro  and
M. E. Cruz
M. Levav
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Psychology and Psychopathology, NIMH, USA
A. F. Mirsky
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Psychology and Psychopathology, NIMH, USA
P. M. Schantz
Affiliation:
Parasitic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control, USA
S. Castro
Affiliation:
Academia Ecuatoriana de Neurociencias, Quito, Ecuador
M. E. Cruz
Affiliation:
Academia Ecuatoriana de Neurociencias, Quito, Ecuador
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This paper describes a study of 194 children (aged 9–13) from a mountain village in Ecuador who were infected with one or more species of intestinal helminth or protozoan parasite. In addition to parasite load, the assessment consisted of a battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests, an EEG examination, measures of iodine level, presence of goitre and level of nutrition. We found that, in general, parasite infection, as measured at the baseline level, was not associated with cognitive impairment. The intensity of infection with A. lumbricoides, however, was correlated with the level of verbal ability and with inhibition-control aspects of cognitive behaviour. Multivariate analysis with level of nutrition, EEG status and parasite burden showed a consistent main effect of the degree of nutrition on neuropsychological performance, particularly the language, problem solving and inhibition-control dimensions.

Keywords

neuropsychological testsparasite infectionmalnutritionEEG
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 110 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 103 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Benson, D. F. & Stuss, D. T. (1982). Motor abilities after frontal leukotomy. Neurology 23, 1353–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callender, J. E. M., Grantham-McGregor, S., Walker, S. & Cooper, E. S. (1992). Trichiuris infection and mental development in children. Lancet 339, 181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, P. (1977). Statistical Power Analyses for Behavioral Sciences. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Connolly, K. J. & Kvalsvig, D. J. (1993). Infection, nutrition and cognitive performance in children. Parasitology 107 (Suppl.), S187–S203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dean, A. G., Dean, J. A., Burton, A. H. & Dicker, R. C. (1990). EPI INFO Version 5: a Wordprocessing, Database and Statistical Program for Epidemiology on Microcomputers. Atlanta, Georgia: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.Google Scholar
Duncan-Johnson, C. & Kopell, B. S. (1981). The Stroop effect: brain potentials localize the source of interference. Science 214, 938–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, L. M., Padilla, E. R., Lugo, D. E. & Dunn, L. M. (1986). Test de Vocabulario en Imágenes Peabody. Circle Pines, Minnesota: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Epstein, H. T. (1978). Growth spurts during brain development: implications for educational policy and practice. In Education and the Brain (ed. Chall, J. S. & Mirsky, A. F.), pp. 343–370. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gibbs, F. A. & Gibbs, E. L. (1952). Atlas of EEC: Methodology and Controls. 2nd Edn. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. Inc.Google Scholar
Golden, Ch. J. (1978). Stroop Color and Word Test, Manual for Clinical and Experimental Uses. Chicago: Soelting.Google Scholar
Goldman, P. S. (1975). Age, sex and experience as related to the neural basis of cognitive development. In Brain Mechanisms in Mental Retardation (ed. Buchwald, N. A. & Brazier, M. A. B.), pp. 379–399. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grantham-McGregor, S. (1990). Malnutrition, mental function and development. In The Malnourished Child (ed. Suskind, R. M. & Lewinter-Suskind, L.). Nestlé Nutrition Workshop Series Vol. 19, pp. 197–212. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Griffiths, R. (1967). The Abilities of Babies. London: University of London Press.Google Scholar
Hall, A. (1993). Intestinal parasitic worms and growth of children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 87, 241–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halloran, M. E., Bundy, D. A. P. & Pollit, E. (1989). Infectious disease and the Unesco basic education initiative. Parasitology Today 5, 359–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamill, P. V. V., Drizd, T. A., Johnson, C. L., Reed, R. B. & Roche, A. F. (1977). NCHS growth curves for children birth–18 years. Vital and Health Statistics Series 11, No. 165. Hyattsville, MD: USHEW-PHS, DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 79–1650.Google Scholar
Heaton, R. K. (1981). A Manual for the Card Sorting Test. Psychological Assessment Resources. Florida: Odessa.Google Scholar
Hudspeth, W. J. & Pribram, K. H. (1992). Psychophysiological indices of cerebral maturation. International Journal of Psychophysiology 12, 19–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
INCAP (1992). Manual for the implementation of height census of school entrants. Working Document for Discussion at INCAP in Guatemala, pp. 87–94.Google Scholar
Kagan, J., Rosman, B., Day, D., Albert, J. & Phillips, W. (1964). Information processing in the child: significance of analytic and reflective attitudes. Psychological Monographs 78, 578–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kvalsvig, J. D., Coopan, R. M. & Connoly, K. J. (1991). The effects of parasite infections on cognitive processes in children. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 85, 551–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, R. G. Jr. (1981). Simultaneous Statistical Inference. 2nd Edn. New York–Heidelberg–Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirsky, A. F., Lochhead, S. J., Jones, B. P., Kugelmass, S., Walsh, D. & Kendler, K. S. (1992). On familial factors in the attentional deficit in schizophrenia: a review and report of two new subject samples. Journal of Psychiatric Research 26, 383–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nokes, C., Grantham-McGregor, S. M., Sawyer, A. W., Cooper, E. S., Robinson, B. A. & Bundy, D. P. (1992). Moderate to heavy infections of Trichuris trichiura affect cognitive function in Jamaican school children. Parasitology 104, 539–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersén, I. & Eeg-Olofsson, O. (1971). The development of the electroencephalogram in normal children from the age of 1 through 15 years. Neuropaediatrie 2, 247–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersén, I., Eeg-Olofsson, O. & Sellden, U. (1971). The development of the electroencephalogram in normal children from the age of 1 thorough 15 years: Paroxysmal activity. Neuropaediatrie 2, 375–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Querido, A., DeLange, F., Dunn, J. T., Fierro-Benitez, R., Ibbertson, H. K., Koutras, D. A. & Perinetti, H. (1974). Definitions of endemic goitre and cretinism: classification of goitre size and severity of endemias, and survey techniques. In Endemic Goiter and Cretinism: Continuing Threats to World Health (ed. Dunn, J. T. & Medeiros-Neto, G. A.), pp. 267–268. Washington, DC: PAHO.Google Scholar
Reitan, R. M. & Davidson, L. A. (1974). Clinical Neuropsychology: Current Status and Applications. Washington, DC: V. H. Winston and Sons.Google Scholar
Savioli, L. (1991). Basic Laboratory Methods in Medical Parasitology. Geneva: World Health Organisation.Google Scholar
Stephenson, L. S., Latham, M. C., Kurz, K. M., Kinoti, S. N. & Brigham, H. (1989). Treatment with a single dose of albendazole improves growth of Kenyan school children with hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, and Ascaris lumbricoides infections. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 41, 78–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stock, M. B. & Smythe, P. M. (1976). Fifteen-year developmental study on effects of severe undernutrition during infancy on subsequent physical growth and intellectual functioning. Archives of Disease in Childhood 51, 327–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies in interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology 18 (6), 643–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Systat, (1992). Systat, Statistical Package for Macintosh, Version 5.2.1 Edition. Evanston, IL: Systat, Inc.Google Scholar
Waite, J. H. & Neilson, I. L. (1919). A study of the effects of hookworm infection upon the mental development of North Queensland school children. Medical Journal of Australia 1, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1974). Intelligence Scales for Children–Revised (WISC-R). San Antonio, Texas: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
World Health Organization Working Group (1986). Use and interpretation of anthropometric indicators of nutritional status. Bulletin of the WHO 64, 929–41.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1987). Prevention and control of intestinal parasitic infections. Technical Report Series, no. 749. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar