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The Biochemistry of Brain Development and Mental Retardation

The Eleventh Blake Marsh Lecture delivered before the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 7 February, 1977

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

A. N. Davison
A. N. Davison*
Affiliation:
Miriam Marks Department of Neurochemistry, Institute of Neurology, The National Hospital, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
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Extract

Mental retardation may be associated with a number of environmental factors such as undernutrition, lead poisoning or exposure to neuroactive drugs during a critical period of brain development. Possible biochemical mechanisms operating in these various conditions and in animal models are reviewed in relation to the vulnerable period hypothesis. Small brains are common in the mentally retarded, and this may be related to a developmental abnormality particularly at the level of the synapse.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 131 , Issue 6 , December 1977 , pp. 565 - 574
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

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