title: Degeneration of cortical function in the Royal College of Surgeons rat.
abstract: The purpose of the current study was to determine the progress of cortical functional degeneration in the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. Cortical responses were measured with optical imaging of intrinsic signals using gratings of various spatial frequencies. Subsequently, electrophysiological recordings were also taken across cortical layers in response to a pulse of broad-spectrum light. We found significant degeneration in the cortical processing of visual information as early as 4 weeks of age. These results show that degeneration in the cortical response of the RCS rat starts before development has been properly completed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, 11-43 Bath Street, EC1V 9EL London, UK. c.gias@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gias
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vugler
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Amanda Jayne
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Li Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmado
authors.forename: Ma'ayan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Semo
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Coffey
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*