Set shifting is a complex task that can readily be performed by human beings and non-human primates, with variable evidence from rodents. In rats, set shifting tasks are not as well established as human beings and non-human primate work. In delayed non-matching-to-sample tasks, the subject not only requires functional working memory and inhibitory control but also set shifting where the organism must be able to observe the sample stimulus then shift their attention to choose the non-matching option during the subsequent test trial. In one rat study of delayed non-matching-to-sample, adult PNEE animals (liquid diet GD 1–22) showed no impairments in set shifting (234). Future rodent work in this area may use a unique behavioral task adapted from primate studies (235) in order to fully understand how set shifting may be altered by PNEE in rodents and shed light on the underlying neural substrates for these behaviors. In a study of rhesus monkeys exposed to ethanol (GD 5 – parturition, voluntary drinking), the 32–34 month old offspring had difficulty acquiring a delayed non-matching to sample task (204).
