Monkey Performance After Partial Body Irradiation: Dose Relationships,
Abstract
Forty-one male and thirty female monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were trained by shock avoidance conditioning to work a simultaneous visual discrimination problem. Trained subjects received either 2500, 4500, or 10,000 rads (midline tissue doses) of pulsed mixed gamma-neutron radiation. Within each dose group some animals were head shielded, some were trunk shielded, and some were not shielded. The midline tissue dose behind the shield (at the middle of the head or chest) was less than 8 percent of the midline tissue dose to the same point without the shield in place. All unshielded monkeys and many shielded monkeys suffered early incapacitation after irradiation. Within dose groups at 2500 rads and at 10,000 rads, the incapacitation was about equally severe for unshielded, head-shielded, and trunk-shielded subjects; however, it generally was more severe at 10,000 rads than in similarly irradiated monkeys that received 2500 rads. At 4500 rads, early incapacitation did not occur in all shielded subjects, and, if it did occur in a shielded monkey, recovery occurred sooner than in most unshielded subjects at 4500 rads. There was some indication that, generally, males could perform better than females after irradiation. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0718317
Entities
People
- J. W. Thorp
- Richard W. Young
Organizations
- Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute