BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet)-- Toddlers rescued from orphanages and placed in good foster homes had far better reasoning, language and other intellectual skills than those who remained, U.S. researchers said in a study in the journal Science Friday.

    The study found that toddlers placed in foster families developed significantly higher I.Q. by age 4 on average than peers who spent those years in an orphanage.

    "Kids who stay in institutions have greatly diminished IQs," said Charles Nelson of Children's Hospital Boston and a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

    Nelson, the study author, said the earlier a child was moved to foster care, the greater the improvement. Children who were placed in foster care before age 2 saw a 12- to 15-point increase in IQ.

    Nelson said there may be a sensitive period spanning the first two years of life within which the onset of foster care exerts a maximal effect on cognitive development

    The study began in Bucharest, Hungary, in 2000 and included 136 children under 31 months living in six institutions.

    There were 68 of the children placed with foster parents. Their average age at placement was 21 months. The rest remained institutionalized. A third comparison group of 72 children lived with their families.

    Researchers repeatedly tested brain development as those children grew, and tracked those who ultimately were adopted or reunited with family. 

    Nelson said the study could serve to guide policy in other countries with large populations of abandoned children.

(Agencies)