Abstract
Summary and Conclusions
Quantitative limitation of food intake sufficient to account for average body-weight differences of 55% between underfed and litter-mate control rats, has also resulted in statistically significant differences in myelination of the optic tracts and nerves. The concentration of myelin in the optic tracts of the underfed rats has averaged 20% less than that in the control animals. Since myelination of the optic tracts, as shown by spectrophotometric determinations in litter-mate rats at successively older ages, is not complete until sometime between the 40th and 50th days, the conclusion seems justified that the relative lack of myelin observed in the underfed animals is due to partial or complete arrest of the process of myelination.
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