Sheikh A, Kanold PO (2010) Subplate neurons promote the formation of barrels within rat primary somatosensory cortex. Neuroscience 2010 Abstracts 33.1/E1. Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
Summary: Subplate neurons are a transient neuronal population present in the neonatal cortex. Subplate neurons receive thalamic afferents and project into the developing cortical plate. Selective removal of subplate neurons in cat visual cortex prevents the normal development of ocular dominance columns and the functional maturation of thalamocortical connections (Ghosh & Shatz 1992, Kanold et al. 2003) . A role of subplate neurons in the development of other sensory cortices is unknown. In rodents, thalamocortical afferents representing the whiskers segregate into barrels in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1). This segregation occurs postnatally and can be disrupted by manipulations of neuronal activity. We previously showed that subplate removal disrupts the development of patterned cortical activity in S1 (Tolner, Yukin, Kaila, Kanold, Abstr. SFN 2009). Thus we hypothesized that disruption of patterned activity in S1 alters the development of barrels. Thus here we investigated if subplate neurons play a role in the development of barrels in rat S1. Subplate neurons were ablated in the somatosensory cortex of rat pups at postnatal day (P) 0 by immunotoxin injections. 10-14 days later we investigated the pattern of barrels in S1 via cytochrome oxidase staining. After subplate ablation there was a disturbance in the barrel patterning when compared to the un-manipulated or control-toxin injected hemispheres. Therefore, subplate neurons are involved in the formation of barrels in S1.
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