Neurobehavioral assessment during the early postnatal period

Few laboratories investigating the neurobehavioral consequences of developmental toxicants assess offspring early in ontogeny other than examining physical maturation, reflex development and perhaps locomotor activity, measures which tap only a limited portion of the neurobehavioral capacities of young organisms. The importance of including a wider range of neurobehavioral assessments during the early postnatal period in developmental toxicology test batteries is discussed. Special considerations for the design of testing early in life are enumerated, and examples are given of suckling, cognitive and psychopharmacological tests that have been shown to be sensitive indicators early in life of the effects of gestational drug exposure.