Summary
Development of the barrel field representation of the forelimb in the primary somatosensory cortex (SI) was studied in normal and deafferented neonatal rat pups by means of the peroxidase conjugated lectin peanut agglutinin (PNA), which most likely binds to radial glial cells within barrel boundaries. 1. Alterations in lectin binding were seen in animals sacrificed on postnatal day 8 (PND-8) if deafferentation took place on PND-1 (day of birth) through PND-6. 2. Deafferentation on PND-5 or on PND-6 had the least effect on lectin binding. In these animals, lectin binding was reduced, although the prospective representation was intact. 3. Deafferentation on PND-2, 3, and 4 had the greatest effect on lectin binding. In these animals, lectin binding was reduced and the prospective cortical representation was disrupted. 4. Deafferentation on PND-1 resulted in reduced lectin binding, however the prospective cortical representation was only slightly impaired compared to that in animals deafferented on PND-2, 3, and 4. 5. These results suggest that SI barrel field boundaries are important to plasticity and that a sensitive period for predevelopment of the forelimb barrels consists of postnatal days 1 through 6. Furthermore, the formation of normal SI barrel field boundaries requires an ongoing interaction between incoming afferents and radial glial cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chapin JK, Lin CS (1984) Mapping the body representation in the SI cortex of anesthetized and awake rats. J Comp Neurol 229:199–213
Cooper NGF, Steindler DA (1986a) Lectins demarcate the barrel subfield cortex of the early postnatal mouse. J Comp Neurol 249:157–169
Cooper NGF, Steindler DA (1986b) Monoclonal antibody to glial fibrillary acidic protein reveals a parcellation of individual barrels in the early postnatal mouse somatosensory cortex. Brain Res 380:341–348
Cooper NGF, Steindler DA (1989) Critical period-dependent alterations of the transient body image in the rodent cerebral cortex. Brain Res 489:167–176
Dawson DR, Killackey HP (1987) The organization and mutability of the forepaw and hindpaw representations in the somatosensory cortex of the neonatal rat. J Comp Neurol 256:246–256
Dori I, Parnavelas JG (1989) The cholinergic innervation of the rat cerebral cortex shows two distinct phases in development. Exp Brain Res 76:417–423
Garcia-Segura LM, Cordon T, Vallejo L (1979) Developmental related changes in the lectin binding to cells of the central nervous system. Acta Histochem 64:164–173
Gioanni Y (1987) Cortical mapping and laminar analysis of the cutaneous and proprioceptive inputs from the rat foreleg: an extraand intra-cellular study. Exp Brain Res 67:510–522
Hutchins JB, Casagrande VA (1988) Glial cells develop a laminar pattern before neuronal cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:8316–8320
Jacobs JR, Goodman CS (1989) Embryonic development of axon pathways in the drosophila CNS. I. A glial scaffold appears before the first growth cones. J Neurosci 9:2402–2411
Jeanmonod D, Rice FL, Van der Loos H (1977) Mouse somatosensory cortex: development of the alterations in the barrelfield which are caused by injury to the vibrissal follicles. Neurosci Lett 6:151–156
Jeanmonod D, Rice FL, Van der Loos H (1981) Mouse somatosensory cortex: alterations in the barrelfield following receptor injury at different early postnatal ages. Neuroscience 6:1503–1535
Killackey HP, Belford GR (1979) The formation of afferent patterns in the somatosensory cortex of the neonatal rat. J Comp Neurol 183:285–304
Killackey HP, Belford GR, Ryugo R, Ryugo D (1976) Anomalous organization of thalamocortical projections consequent to vibrissae removal in the newborn rat and mouse. Brain Res 104:309–315
Kossut M, Hand P (1984) Early development of changes in cortical representation of C3 vibrissa following neonatal denervation of surrounding vibrissa receptors: a 2-deoxyglucose study in the rat. Neurosci Lett 46:7–12
Kristt DA (1979) Development of neocortical circuitry: histochemical localization of acetylcholinesterase in relation to the cell layers of rat somatosensory cortex. J Comp Neurol 186:1–16
Lamour Y, Jobert A (1982) Laminar distribution and convergence of deep and superficial peripheral inputs in the forelimb representation of rat SI somatosensory cortex. J Physiol (Paris) 78:158–162
Lidov HGW, Rice FL, Molliver ME (1978) The organization of the catecholamine innervation of somatosensory cortex: the barrel field of the mouse. Brain Res 153:577–584
McCandlish C, Waters RS, Cooper NGF (1989) Early development of the representation of the body surface in SI cortex barrel field in neonatal rats as demonstrated with peanut agglutinin binding: evidence for differential development within the rattunculus. Exp Brain Res 77:425–431
McCandlish CA, Waters RS (1989) Development of SI forelimb barrel representation in normal and deafferented neonatal rats as studied using peanut agglutinin (PNA). Soc Neurosci Abstr 15:1051
Nowakowski RS, Rakic P (1979) The mode of migration of neurons to the hippocampus: a Golgi and electron microscopic analysis in foetal rhesus monkey. J Neurocytol 8:697–718
O'Brien TF, Steindler DA, Cooper NGF (1987) Abnormal glial and glycoconjugate dispositions in the somatosensory cortical barrel field of the early postnatal reeler mutant mouse. Dev Brain Res 32:309–317
Oland LA, Tolbert LP (1987) Glial patterns during early development of antennal lobes of Manduca sexta: a comparison between normal lobes and lobes deprived of antennal axons. J Comp Neurol 255:196–207
Pinto-Lord MC, Evrard P, Caviness VS (1982) Obstructed neuronal migration along radial glial fibers in the neocortex of the reeler mouse: a Golgi-EM analysis. Dev Brain Res 4:379–393
Raedler E, Raedler A, Feldhaus S (1981) Varying expressions of lectin receptors within embryonic cell layers of murine cerebral cortex. Anat Embryol 162:21–28
Rakic P (1972) Mode of cell migration to the superficial layers of fetal monkey neocortex. J Comp Neurol 145:61–84
Rakic P (1988) Specification of cerebral cortical areas. Science 241:170–176
Sanderson KG, Welker W, Shambes GM (1984) Re-evaluation of motor cortex and of sensorimotor overlap in cerebral cortex of albino rats. Brain Res 292:251–260
Seo ML, Ito M (1987) Reorganization of rat vibrissa barrelfield as studied by cortical lesioning on different postnatal days. Exp Brain Res 65:251–260
Sievert CF, Neafsey EJ (1986) A chronic unit study of the sensory properties of neurons in the forelimb areas of rat sensorimotor cortex. Brain Res 381:15–23
Steindler DA, O'Brien TF, Cooper NGF (1988) Glycoconjugate boundaries during early postnatal development of the neostriatal mosaic. J Comp Neurol 267:357–369
Steindler DA, Cooper NGF, Faissner A, Schachner M (1989) Boundaries defined by adhesion molecules during development of the cerebral cortex: the J1/tenascin glycoprotein in the mouse somatosensory cortical barrel field. Dev Biol 131:243–260
Van der Loos H, Woolsey TA (1973) Somatosensory cortex: structural alterations following early injury to sense organs. Science 179:395–398
Vanselow J, Thanos S, Godement P, Henke-Fahle S, Bonhoeffer F (1989) Spatial arrangement of radial glia and ingrowing retinal axons in the chick optic tectum during development. Dev Brain Res 45:15–27
Waite PME, Cragg BG (1979) The effect of destroying the whisker follicles in mice on the sensory nerve: the thalamocortical radiation and cortical barrel development. Proc R Soc (London) 204:41–55
Waters RS, McCandlish C, Cooper NGF (1988) Early development of forelimb representation in SI cortex barrel subfield in neonatal rats as demonstrated with peanut agglutinin binding: evidence for differential development of the forelimb and face. Soc Neurosci Abstr 14:424
Welker C (1971) Microelectrode delineation of fine grain somatotropic organization of SmI cerebral neocortex in albino rat. Brain Res 26:259–275
Welker C (1976) Receptive fields of barrels in the somatosensory neocortex of the rat. J Comp Neurol 166:173–190
Weller WL, Johnson JI (1975) Barrels in cerebral cortex altered by receptor disruption in newborn, but not in five-day old mice (Cricetidae and Muridae). Brain Res 83:504–508
Wise SP, Jones EG (1978) Developmental studies of thalamocortical and commissural connections in the rat somatic sensory cortex. J Comp Neurol 178:187–208
Wong-Riley MTT, Welt C (1980) Histochemical changes in cytochrome oxidase of cortical barrels after vibrissal removal in neonatal and adult mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:2333–2337
Woolsey CN (1958) Organization of somatic sensory and motor areas of the cerebral cortex. In: Harlow HF, Woolsey CN (eds) Biological and biochemical bases of behavior. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp 63–82
Woolsey TA, Van der Loos H (1970) The structural organization of layer IV in the somatosensory region (SI) of mouse cerebral cortex. Brain Res 17:205–242
Woolsey TA, Wann JR (1976) Areal changes in mouse cortical barrels following vibrissal damage at different postnatal ages. J Comp Neurol 170:53–66
Zanetta JP, Roussel G, Ghandour MS, Vincendon G, Gombos G (1978) Postnatal development of rat cerebellum: massive and transient accumulation of concanavalin A binding glycoproteins in parallel fiber axolemma. Brain Res 142:301–319
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waters, R.S., McCandlish, C.A. & Cooper, N.G.F. Early development of SI cortical barrel subfield representation of forelimb in normal and deafferented neonatal rat as delineated by peroxidase conjugated lectin, peanut agglutinin (PNA). Exp Brain Res 81, 234–240 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228112
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228112