Effects of Visual Loss in the Corpus Callosum in Rats Subjected to Sensory-Motor Training

• Published in: International journal of morphology Vol. 27; no. 4; pp. 1031 - 1035
• Main Authors: Suazo Galdames, Iván, López Farías, Bernarda, Cantín López, Mario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Sociedad Chilena de Anatomía 01-12-2009
• Subjects: ANATOMY & MORPHOLOGY; Cortex visual; Visual cortex; Esplenio; Cuerpo calloso; Motor performance; Rendimiento motor; Corpus callosum; Esplenium
• ISSN: 0717-9502; 0717-9502
• DOI: 10.4067/S0717-95022009000400012

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the dimensions of different portions of the corpus callosum in rats subjected to sensory-motor enriched environment with visual loss. We used 24 adult SpragueDawley rats divided into three groups: G1 (n = 7) control, G2 (n = 10) subjected to sensory-motor stimulation, and G3 (n = 7) subjected to sensory-motor stimulation followed by visual loss by retinal injury. The brains were extracted and the corpus callosum was divided into three parts of equal length, corresponding to the genu, mid-body, and splenium, and the callosal area was determined according to the method described by Aboitiz et al. (1992). We observed normal performance among animals in G2 and G3 in the enriched environment with a decrease in the area of the posterior third of the corpus callosum or splenium in G3. However, these differences were not statistically significant when compared with G1 and G2, which suggests that prior training to G3 retinal lesion favored the performance observed after the injury.