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PRIMATE SCIENCE RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
March 17, 1999
"Monkey test can measure intelligence in children"

An intelligence test first developed for rhesus monkeys has proven
successful in estimating IQs in children. Because of this
monkey-to-human correlation, the test-called the Operant Test
Battery, or OTB-may also be useful in testing neuroactive drugs in
laboratory animals.

"We are likely tapping similar, specific aspects of brain function
in both nonhuman and human primates," says Merle G. Paule, Ph.D.,
of the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson,
Arkansas.

Merle and his colleagues compared the relationship between
intelligence and reinforced operant behaviors-using nickels as
rewards-in 115 six-year-old children. The children have been
studied since birth through the Infant Health and Development
Program (IHDP), a national study designed to test the effectiveness
of educational intervention in a large group of preterm, low birth
weight infants.

The researchers administered tasks thought to engender responses
dependent upon specific brain functions. The tasks included
motivation, color and position discrimination, learning, short-term
memory, and time estimation.

"We sought to determine if there were correlations between
traditional measures of cognitive abilities, or IQ tests, and our
nonverbal measures of relatively complex instrumental behavior,"
Merle explained.

When OTB endpoints were compared with full scale, verbal and
performance IQ scores, highly significant correlations were noted
between several OTB measures (e.g., color and position
discrimination accuracy) and IQ, but not in others (e.g.,
motivation task response rate).

The results suggest that it should be possible to estimate
childrens' intelligence using appropriate OTB measures.

"Additionally, since trained laboratory animals can readily perform
these same tasks," says Merle, "it follows that these kinds of
behaviors should be useful in studying the effects of neuroactive
compounds on important brain functions in animals and in predicting
effects of such agents on related brain functions in humans."

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Reference:

Paule, M.G., J.J. Chelonis, E.A. Buffalo, D.J. Blake, and P.H.
Casey. 1999. Operant test battery performance in children:
correlation with IQ. Neurotoxicol teratol 21(x) 000-000.


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Primate-Science Research Highlights appears every other week and focuses
broadly on research involving non-human primates. Coverage includes
biomedicine, behavior, conservation and veterinary science. Please
submit highlights for this column to Larry Jacobsen, Primate-Science Research
Highlights editor, at jacobsen@primate.wisc.edu. A 300-word limit and
lay-language style are recommended. Primate-Science Research Highlights are
supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health,
National Center for Research Resources.  Copyright 1999,
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center. No portion of this highlight
may be copied or redistributed without the consent of the editor.

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