artículo
NADPH-d positive neurons in the developing somatosensory cortex of the rat: effects of early and late environmental enrichment
Fecha
1998Registro en:
10.1016/S0165-3806(98)00037-6
0165-3806
MEDLINE:9593955
WOS:000074009600015
Autor
Fernandez, V
Bravo, H
Sanhueza, M
Inzunza, O
Institución
Resumen
The effects of environmental enrichment upon the topographic arrangement of NADPH diaphorase-positive neurons (NADPH-d(+) neurons) was studied in the somatosensory cortex of 56 Sprague-Dawley albino rats during early stages of development (18th, 24th, 30th and 60th postnatal days). This diaphorase is easily demonstrable, providing a convenient marker for quantitative studies. Environmental enrichment diminished the number of NADPH-d(+) neurons and exerted its maximal influence during lactation, a time of exceptional cortical susceptibility. This implies that the magnitude of such effects on the density of NADPH-d(+) neurons is age-dependent. Furthermore, it was found that the experience-dependent cortical changes persisted after a subsequent period without environmental stimulation. The effects of early environmental enrichment did not occur uniformly throughout the cerebral hemispheres but, instead, such effects were maximal in the latero-ventral sector of the cerebral cortex where a dramatic reduction in the number of NADPH-d(+) neurons was observed. Particularly striking was the existence of a latero-medial sequence of NADPH-d(+) neurons in the infragranular layer and a reversed distribution of labeled cells, in the supragranular layer. Both ontogenetic sequences of NADPH-d(+) neurons remained unchanged during postnatal development in controls and enriched subjects (18th-60th postnatal days). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.