RETEST OF ATTENTION MEMORY PERFORMANCE AND GALVANIC SKIN-RESPONSE IN CHILDREN EXPOSED TO ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS

An exposed (Affected - AG) group of 8-10 year old children (n=81) livi ng in an environment polluted by chemical substances (mainly increased concentration of arsenic, among other substances) was compared with a control group (Control - CG) of children living in a relatively clean area (n=81), using an extensive battery of cognitive tasks. The AG pe rformed evidently worse in the attention and memory tasks than the CG. Eighteen months later a retest of these tasks showed that the perform ances of the two groups have balanced out, statistical differences ind icating poorer results on the part of the AG were rare. However, the r etest of the galvanic skin response showed the same differentiation si gns as the original test.