NEONATAL IRRADIATION AND LEARNING 



665 



N__.= Non-rodioted (92) 

 ^ = Radiated 

 ^ = Radiated + AET 



800 



600 



400 



Time (sec.) 



^ r m-A m^A ma 



2 4 6 



Age at radiation 



Fig. 2. Maze scores as a function of age at radiation. Number of subjects in radi- 

 ated group: 25, 25, and 22 for Or, 225r, and 275r, respectively. Corresponding 

 numbers in radiated + AET group are 23, 23, and 26. 



error, or time scores {t ^ .357, .550, and .229 at 119 degrees of freedom, 

 respectively. Finally, the scores of the AET protected animals were close 

 to the r level for all performance measures. 



Retention 



In the 30 day interval between the acquisition of the maze habit and the 

 relearning test, 29 animals died. 



With increases in radiation, dose decrements in all relearning measures 

 were greater. An F test showed that radiation dose had a significant effect 

 on all retention measures {p < .01). Relearning was less affected by radia- 

 tion than was original learning. 



As with the original learning data, age at radiation was not a significant 

 variable. But a considerable protective effect was exerted by the AET in the 

 275 r group. Saline 275 r mean scores were 20.0, 22.1 and 323.7 for trials. 



