Wendy Swope

BIOL-1615
Final Summary
September 26, 16
Can You Make Up For Poor Early Nutrtion?
There has been an advance in the study of organisms that
understands that species have a certain capability to overcome
nutritional deficiencies that occur during the early stages of
development. This response to overcome is referred to as catch-up
or compensatory growth. This growth is accelerated after a period in
which the species ability to grow is hindered due to poor nutrition. This
usually results in two organisms of the same species having different
early nutrition being the same approximate size. Due to the one with a
deficiency needing to catch up and therefore taking in more nutrition,
i.e., eating more. The costs of this compensatory growth are relatively
unknown. However, it has been shown in other experiments to affect
cognitive functions in mammals and birds alike. The scientists
hypothesized that the period of low nutrition was not the cause of
lower cognitive function; the period of compensatory growth was
responsible for lower cognitive rates.
An experiment was designed to test this hypothesis. Researchers
used pairs of same sex sibling zebra finch birds in order to determine
which group would wind up with higher cognitive function: those with a
normal diet, or those with a nutritional deficit. Birds of both female
and male genders were relatively the same size on all accounts at

hatching. These numbers were pooled and then they were separated
into two groups: normal diets (N siblings) or deficit diets (D siblings).
These groups were given their normal or deficit diets for the first 20
days and then all birds were put on an average diet. Weights for each
period of diet (0-20 days; 20-70 days) were recorded and compared. At
70 days, all birds were fully grown. Through the deficit stages and
compensatory stages, the birds were put to learning assignments. All
birds were found to decrease their number of errors; therefore all birds
were able to do the tests (i.e., connecting the color on a computer
screen to a food reward).
After the experiment, the results were recorded and interpreted.
The birds were all hatched with basically the same birth weights with
little variance. After the 0-20 day period the D-siblings (weights of 11.6
.4 g) weighed less than their N-sibling counterparts (weights of 13.4
.26 g). The 20-70 day period demonstrated the compensatory
growth. The D-siblings grew an additional 46.5 4.78% compared to
29.49 2.91% by the N-siblings. Cognitive tests were performed
during each stage of growth to determine where the deficit in cognitive
function would reveal itself. Sibling differences in days 0-20 were not
significant (F= .02 p= .9) where the differences were larger in days 2070 (F= 8.03 p= .01) These results supported the hypothesis that was
originally made.
In conclusion, the experiment supported the original hypothesis

made by researchers that early nutritional deficits were not the cause
of lower cognitive functions; it was instead the catch-up period that
followed. This research gives us a better understanding on how to deal
with organisms with nutritional deficiencies that occur early in life. The
information given in this study could be used to assist with babies of
lower birth weights and how to bring them up to speed without
affecting their learning capabilities. This research could be significant
in the health care industry.