Time course of recovery of the somatosensory map following hindpaw sensory deprivation in the rat

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 309; no. 2; pp. 121 - 124
• Main Authors: Dupont, Erwan, Canu, Marie-Hélène, Langlet, Cécile, Falempin, Maurice
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 24-08-2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Cortical map; Cortical reorganisation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hindlimb - innervation; Hindlimb suspension; Immobilization; Male; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Plasticity; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptive field; Recovery of Function - physiology; Sensory Deprivation - physiology; Sensory disruption; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology; Somesthesis and somesthetic pathways (proprioception, exteroception, nociception); interoception; electrolocation. Sensory receptors; Space life sciences; Touch - physiology; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Weightlessness; Weightlessness Simulation; Receptive field; Hindlimb suspension; Sensory disruption; Cortical map; Plasticity; Cortical reorganisation; Weightlessness; Hindlimb; Rat; Rodentia; Central nervous system; Somatosensory cortex; Vertebrata; Sensory deprivation; Mammalia; Somesthetic pathway; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(01)02050-X

Hindlimb sensory deprivation is known to induce a decrease in the cortical representation of hindpaw, and an increase in the size of the cutaneous receptive fields. The aim of the present study was to determine (i) the time-course of recovery when the rat retrieves a normal use of its limbs after a 14-day period of sensory disruption and (ii) whether a 1-day period of sensory deprivation is sufficient to induce a plasticity. Our results indicate that the remodelling of the cortical map was not observed after 1 day of sensory deprivation. On the other hand, the recovery was achieved after 6 h. These findings suggest that a procedure reducing sensory function resulted in reversible changes in the somatosensory cortex. The recovery was more rapid than the induction of plasticity.