MODELS OF DELAYED RECOVERY

After a biologic insult has impaired function of the developing centra l nervous system, recovery may not become apparent for years. Probabil ity models adopted from the carcinogenesis, developmental neurobiology , learning decay, and stochastic process literatures are presented so that assumptions about apparent delays in the recovery process can be tested with data from longitudinal studies after a temporally circumsc ribed adverse event/exposure. This process of evaluating multiple mode ls is exemplified with one data set. Nonlinear models of recovery are important because some children with early deficits first show improve ment months to years later.