INCREASING attention is being focused on the development of infants restricted in intrauterine growth. Whether such restriction at a critical period of maturation affects brain development and function has not been adequately determined. The present study was designed to determine if term infants who were undersized at birth and without evidence of fetal infection or malformation differ from larger infants of comparable maturity in their general intellectual performance at the preschool level.
Sample and Method
The children studied had been delivered of women registered at the University of Oregon Medical School. The mothers were enrolled in the National Collaborative Study on Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Other Neurological and Sensory Disorders of Infancy and Childhood,1 of which this institution is a participating member. They lived in the Portland, Ore, metropolitan area and were eligible for tax supported care.Records of the collaborative study were reviewed to identify the children