Nutrition & Behavior
Abstract: A 1980 workshop on nutrition and behavior promoted the exchange of ideas among people from diverse disciplines: toxicology, neurology, epidemiology, pharmacology, psychiatry, behavioral science, and nutrition science. Several broad themes emerged: the need to identify research areas and set priorities; to develop prediction methods and models; to recognize the effects of modern life, (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse, overnutrition, and smoking) on nutrition; to resolve the conflicts of research and regulation; and finally, to examine fully the relationship between nutritional adequacy and central nervous system development and function. The social influences on nutrition were examined in Session I. Regulatory mechanisms, such as neurotransmission and inborn errors of metabolism, were discussed in Session II. Effects of various dietary constituents, including chemicals, artificial colors, caffeine, and monosodium glutamate, were discussed in detail. Diet therapy for disease and disability, and experimental test design and test methodologies were also discussed. (cj).