Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 9, No. 3, 222-231,
April 1999
© 1999 Oxford University Press
Partial Blocking of NMDA Receptors Reduces Plastic Changes Induced by Short-lasting Classical Conditioning in the SI Barrel Cortex of Adult Mice
Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute, 3 Pasteur Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
The effect of blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the barrel cortex upon the learning-induced changes of the cortical body map was examined in adult mice. We have previously found that three sensory conditioning sessions, in which stimulation of a row of vibrissae was paired with a tail shock, produced an enlargement of the functional representation of a row of vibrissae stimulated during training. Implantation of the slow release polymer Elvax, containing 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV, 50 mM), in the vicinity of the barrel cortex was performed 1 day before conditioning to block NMDA receptors. The cortical representation of a trained row of vibrissae was visualized with 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) functional brain mapping 1 day after the completion of the conditioning procedure. The partial blockade of NMDA receptors within the barrel cortex reduced (by half) the expansion of the cortical representation of a trained row of vibrissae as compared to the enlargement of the cortical representation of a trained row found in untreated (60%) and Elvax–PBS implanted (47%) mice. The results provide evidence that the learning-induced processes of cortical map reorganization involve mechanisms that depend on NMDA receptor activation.
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