Effect of early malnutrition on dynamic properties of axodendritic synapses in the rat prefrontal cortex.
The influence of early protein-calorie malnutrition on synaptic transmission in the rat prefrontal cortex was studied by evoking direct cortical responses with different trains of threshold electrical pulses. Malnutrition resulted in a requirement for increased pulse train stimulating current, reflecting a diminished release of neurotransmitter from the preterminal endings. In addition there was an increase in the time constant of pyramidal cells, indicating that axodendritic synapses have a disability for integrating high frequency inputs at the post synaptic level. It is concluded that early malnutrition alters dynamic properties of axodentritic synapses at both the pre- and the postsynaptic levels.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission