VISUAL-ATTENTION IN INFANT MONKEYS - EFFECTS OF DIETARY FATTY-ACIDS AND AGE

Effects of dietary essential fatty acids on visual attention were expl ored longitudinally in infant rhesus monkeys with a visual paired-comp arison paradigm. Sets of primate faces and of patterns were presented at Weeks 2, 5, 9, and 13 to 9 infants deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and 8 fed a standard nursery diet. Familiarization to 1 member of eac h pair preceded simultaneous presentation of both stimuli. Infants fed the deficient diet showed longer individual looks in both immediate a nd 24-hr tests. Duration of looks decreased with age to familiar but n ot to novel stimuli. The proportion of time looking at the novel stimu lus (% novel) increased with age but was not affected by diet. Look du ration and % novel were differentially affected and may reflect differ ent underlying processes.