Early Neurodevelopmental Exposure to Low Lead Levels Induces Fronto-executive Dysfunctions That Are Recovered by Taurine Co-treatment in the Rat Attention Set-Shift Test: Implications for Taurine as a Psychopharmacotherapy Against Neurotoxicants.

Lead (Pb) is a developmental neurotoxicant that causes lifelong cognitive dysfunctions. In particular, Pb-induced frontoexecutive dysfunctions emerge later in life when the cortex is fully myelinated, thereby permitting the ability to assess the extent to which Pb has developmentally impacted higher order cognitive and behavioral systems. The present study evaluated the effects of developmental Pb-exposure (150 ppm lead acetate in the drinking water) in Long Evans Hooded rats through the Attention Set-Shift Test (ASST) between postnatal days (PND) 60-90.