Plasticity of representational maps in somatosensory cortex observed by in vivo voltage-sensitive dye imaging.
We investigated the effect of selective whisker trimming on the development of the cortical representation of a whisker deflection in layer 2/3 of rat somatosensory cortex using in vivo voltage-sensitive dye (vsd) imaging. Responses to deflection of D-row whiskers were recorded after trimming of A-row, B-row, and C-row whiskers, referred to as DE pairing, during postnatal development. Animals DE paired from postnatal day (p) 7 to p17 had a significant bias in the spread of the vsd signal, favoring spread toward the concomitantly nondeprived E-row columns. This resulted primarily from a strong decrease in signal spreading into the deprived C-row columns. In contrast, signal spread in control littermates was approximately symmetrical. DE pairing failed to elicit significant changes when begun after p14, thus defining a critical period for this phenomenon. The results suggest that sensory deprivation in this model results in lower connectivity being established between nondeprived columns and adjacent deprived ones.
Wallace
Damian J
DJ
Department of Cell Physiology, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. dhw@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de
Sakmann
Bert
B
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000032:analysis; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
D004396:Coloring Agents