Pharmacological suppression of REM sleep prior to weaning counteracts the effectiveness of subsequent environmental enrichment on cortical growth in rats.
Male Wistar rat pups were deprived of REM sleep by means of daily injections of clonidine between 8 and 21 days after birth. From day 28 they were reared under either 'enriched' or 'standard' environmental conditions. At 75 days of age the animals were sacrificed, and the regional brain weights were compared with two (differentially reared) control groups. Whereas cortical weight was greater in the enriched than in the standard control rats, no differences were found between the corresponding REM sleep-deprived (i.e. clonidine-treated) groups. These results suggest that REM sleep deprivation and/or disturbances of central noradrenergic function during early development can counteract growth responses of the brain to environmental stimulation later in life.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D003000:Clonidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects*; D012931:Social Environment; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000187:drug effects
D003000:Clonidine