Epidemiological and experimental animal studies suggest that infants and children are more susceptible than adults to effects from low dose exposure. Chlorpyrifos has been suggested to have negative impacts on the cognitive functions in the developing brain. The young have a decreased capacity to detoxify chlorpyrifos and its metabolites. It is suggested that adolescents differ from adults in the metabolism of these compounds due to the maturation of organs in adolescents. This results in disruption in nervous system developmental processes, as observed in animal experiments. There are a number of studies observed in animals that show that chlorpyrifos alters the expression of essential genes that assist in the development of the brain.