Identification of a critical period for motor development in neonatal rats
- PMID: 1488121
- DOI: 10.1016/0306-4522(92)90517-6
Identification of a critical period for motor development in neonatal rats
Abstract
Manipulation of the developing nervous system has provided valuable insights into nervous system function. One important concept to arise from this type of study has been the identification of specific "critical periods" for the development of various functions. A critical period has been most clearly shown for the visual system where monocular eye closure for a few weeks led to functionally significant changes in visually guided behaviors and the connectivity of the visual cortex. Critical periods have also been defined for other sensory systems. Although studies of the effect of manipulating sensory systems during development are sometimes difficult to interpret (e.g. Ref. 7), this difficulty is compounded in the case of the motor system. Problems arise because manipulations of the postnatal motor system are difficult to implement and usually require invasive procedures such as tenotomy, neurotomy, and nerve crush (for review, see Ref. 17). We have approached the problem of manipulating the motor environment by adapting a paradigm widely used to study the experimental effects of simulated weightlessness in adult rats: namely, tail suspension. This method has several advantages for manipulating the motor system: (i) because it is noninvasive, it is less discomforting than neurotomy, tenotomy or nerve crush; (ii) it does not immobilize the animals, they move about the cage and extend and flex their hindlimbs; and (iii) it specifically examines the importance of load-bearing on the development of antigravity muscles and their neuronal circuits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Similar articles
-
Changes in gravity influence rat postnatal motor system development: from simulation to space flight.Gravit Space Biol Bull. 1997 Jun;10(2):111-8. Gravit Space Biol Bull. 1997. PMID: 11540112
-
Postnatal development under conditions of simulated weightlessness and space flight.Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998 Nov;28(1-2):25-34. doi: 10.1016/s0165-0173(98)00023-x. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1998. PMID: 9795115 Review.
-
Long-term effects of microgravity on the swimming behaviour of young rats.J Physiol. 2005 Jun 1;565(Pt 2):609-26. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2004.074393. Epub 2005 Mar 10. J Physiol. 2005. PMID: 15760948 Free PMC article.
-
The effects of microgravity on the development of surface righting in rats.J Physiol. 2005 Jun 1;565(Pt 2):593-608. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2004.074385. Epub 2005 Mar 17. J Physiol. 2005. PMID: 15774538 Free PMC article.
-
[Stages in the development of interrelations between autogenic and reflex motor mechanisms in the ontogeny of homeotherms].Usp Fiziol Nauk. 1982 Jan-Mar;13(1):109-27. Usp Fiziol Nauk. 1982. PMID: 7039166 Review. Russian. No abstract available.
Cited by
-
Early Movement Restriction Affects FNDC5/Irisin and BDNF Levels in Rat Muscle and Brain.Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Mar 31;25(7):3918. doi: 10.3390/ijms25073918. Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38612728 Free PMC article.
-
Muscle disuse as hindlimb unloading in early postnatal mice negatively impacts grip strength in adult mice: a pilot study.J Appl Physiol (1985). 2023 Apr 1;134(4):787-798. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00681.2022. Epub 2023 Feb 9. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2023. PMID: 36759163 Free PMC article.
-
Neurotransmitter phenotype switching by spinal excitatory interneurons regulates locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury.Nat Neurosci. 2022 May;25(5):617-629. doi: 10.1038/s41593-022-01067-9. Epub 2022 May 6. Nat Neurosci. 2022. PMID: 35524138 Free PMC article.
-
Early life experience sets hard limits on motor learning as evidenced from artificial arm use.Elife. 2021 Oct 4;10:e66320. doi: 10.7554/eLife.66320. Elife. 2021. PMID: 34605407 Free PMC article.
-
Astrocytes close a motor circuit critical period.Nature. 2021 Apr;592(7854):414-420. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03441-2. Epub 2021 Apr 7. Nature. 2021. PMID: 33828296 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources