title: Functional parasagittal compartments in the rat cerebellar cortex: an in vivo optical imaging study using neutral red.
abstract: 1. The spatial patterns of activation in the rat cerebellar cortex evoked by peripheral stimulation were studied in vivo using optical imaging techniques. 2. Crus I and Crus II were stained with the pH sensitive dye, neutral red. Electrical stimulation of the vibrissae area of the ipsilateral face evoked optical responses consisting of parasagittal bands. The bands were 100-300 microns in width, elongated in the anterior-posterior direction, commonly extended across at least two folia, and varied in number from 1 to 7. 3. The optical responses were dependent on activation of postsynaptic elements since they were decreased substantially by the non-N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione. The optical bands were shown to correspond anatomically with the parasagittal compartments revealed by immunostaining with anti-zebrin II. 4. The present study demonstrates that functional parasagittal compartments exist in the rat cerebellar cortex and suggests that zebrin-positive Purkinje cell subgroups are anatomically related to this functional organization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Ebner
mesh_terms: D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005453:Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009499:Neutral Red; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C071871:zebrin II; D009499:Neutral Red; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione