title: [The effect of early sensory experience on development of neuron functional properties in the area of vibrissal projection in the rat neocortex].
abstract: The role of specific sensory inflow in the functional maturation of neurons in the area of vibrissal projections in the somatosensory cortex of rats was studied. Animals were subjected to bilateral trimming of whiskers during the first three weeks of postnatal ontogenesis. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of neuronal responses were analyzed in the "lemniscal" layers IV and Vb and "paralemniscal" layer Va in junior (27-40 PN days) and elder (41-57 PN days) rats. The immediate effect of deafferentation in younger animals consisted in an increase in excitatory responses, which correlated with a deficit of inhibitory reactions. In animals subjected to vibrissectomy, atypical responses were observed in the "lemniscal" and "paralemniscal" layers. This effect may be caused by a derangement of distribution of thalamic afferents in the somatosensory cortex. Elder animals in vibrissectomized group displayed an increase in inhibitory reactions, i.e., the long-term effect of vibrissectomy is the actualization of inhibitory mechanisms.
authors: E Iu
authors: EIu
authors: Sitnikova
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D019579:Neocortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time; D014110:Touch; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*