Psychomotor functions in developing rats: Ontogenetic approach to structure-function relationships

The functional development of the central nervous system (CNS) in the rat was studied from the 10th to the 45th postnatal day, through the ontogeny of psychomotor and sensory functions, by a battery of behavioral tests. The ontogenetic development of 10 different functions was described. The results showed that novelty-induced functions matured progressively in an adult-like pattern of functioning in the 3rd postnatal week. Indeed, exploratory activity was low at the 10th day, increased significantly to reach highest values from 20th to 30th postnatal day, then declined at the 45th postnatal day. No habituation was exhibited by 10- and 15-day-old rats; it appeared at the age of 20 days. Emotional reactivity induced by the novelty of surroundings clearly appeared from the 20th postnatal day, when the features of adult animal were reached. It appeared also that reflex and automatic motor functions came to maturity by the age of 3 wk, while voluntary motor functions continued to improve until the 30th day. Thus, the latency of the hind paw lifting reflex occurrence significantly decreased from the 10th to the 20th postnatal day, when the most improved values were reached. The wire-grasping times increased from the 10th to the 25th postnatal day in an exponential fashion. Locomotor activity developed significantly from the 10th to the 15th day, when the mature locomotion pattern was exhibited. The coordination of complex movements and motor initiative appeared only after the 20th postnatal day. The latencies of execution of crawling along the wire and of leap onto the ground decreased significantly from the 20th to the 45th day. These studies reveal the presence of the caudal to rostral sequence of CNS development, predicting a spatio-temporal functional maturation of nuclei and centers in the rat's CNS. The building of the time-sequence of regional maturation of the brain integrated activities was attempted.

[1]  R. Miledi,et al.  A study of foetal and new‐born rat muscle fibres , 1962, The Journal of physiology.

[2]  C. Slater.  Neural influence on the postnatal changes in acetylcholine receptor distribution at nerve-muscle junctions in the mouse. , 1982, Developmental biology.

[3]  C. Phelps,et al.  Brain catecholamine concentration during the first week of development in rats. , 1982, Developmental Neuroscience.

[4]  S. Grillner,et al.  Reflex activation and regulation of spontaneous activity in static and dynamic γ-motoneurones , 1967 .

[5]  E. Garcia-Rill,et al.  The mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) in the rat , 1984, Brain Research.

[6]  P V Komi.  Biomechanics and neuromuscular performance. , 1984, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[7]  P. Simon,et al.  [The exploration reaction in the mouse. Preliminary note]. , 1962, Therapie.

[8]  J. B. Ranck,et al.  Spatial firing patterns of hippocampal complex-spike cells in a fixed environment , 1987, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[9]  J. Altman,et al.  Postnatal development of locomotion in the laboratory rat , 1975, Animal Behaviour.

[10]  P. Simon,et al.  [USE OF A PARTICULAR MOUSE REACTION (HOLE BOARD METHOD) FOR THE STUDY OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS]. , 1964, Therapie.

[11]  J. Altman,et al.  Postnatal development of the cerebellar cortex in the rat. II. Phases in the maturation of Purkinje cells and of the molecular layer , 1972, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[12]  J. Altman,et al.  The effects of early hypo- and hyperthyroidism on the development of the rat cerebellar cortex. II. Synaptogenesis in the molecular layer. , 1972, Brain research.

[13]  W. N. Dember,et al.  Alternation and exploration in rats with hippocampal lesions. , 1962, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[14]  M. Miller,et al.  Maturation of rat visual cortex. III. Postnatal morphogenesis and synaptogenesis of local circuit neurons. , 1986, Brain research.

[15]  W. Nauta,et al.  Subcortical mechanisms in emotional behavior: affective changes following septal forebrain lesions in the albino rat. , 1953, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[16]  G. Lennerstrand,et al.  Muscle spindle responses to concomitant variations in lenght and in fusimotor activation. , 1968, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[17]  C. S. Hall,et al.  Emotional behavior in the rat. I. Defecation and urination as measures of individual differences in emotionality. , 1934 .

[18]  R. Granit,et al.  Supraspinal control of the muscle spindles and its significance , 1953, The Journal of physiology.

[19]  H. Tanila,et al.  Vertical and horizontal coding of space in the monkey dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , 1990, Brain Research.

[20]  J. Tapp,et al.  Reinforcement and behavior , 1969 .

[21]  S. Highstein.  The central nervous system efferent control of the organs of balance and equilibrium , 1991, Neuroscience Research.

[22]  J. Boissier.  SITUATION LIBRE ET PSYCHOTROPES , 1965 .

[23]  G B KOELLE,et al.  A Histochemical Method for Localizing Cholinesterase Activity.* , 1949, Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

[24]  J. Miquel,et al.  A simple technique for evaluation of vitality loss in aging mice, by testing their muscular coordination and vigor , 1978, Experimental Gerontology.

[25]  B. Campbell,et al.  Ontogeny of Adrenergic Arousal and Cholinergic Inhibitory Mechanisms in the Rat , 1969, Science.

[26]  P. Matthews.  MUSCLE SPINDLES AND THEIR MOTOR CONTROL. , 1964, Physiological reviews.

[27]  J. Dobbing,et al.  Vulnerability of developing brain. IX. The effect of nutritional growth retardation on the timing of the brain growth-spurt. , 1971, Biology of the neonate.

[28]  N. Pradhan,et al.  Correlations of motility, defecatory behavior and striatal dopaminergic activity in rats , 1991, Physiology & Behavior.

[29]  J. Westerga,et al.  The development of locomotion in the rat. , 1990, Brain research. Developmental brain research.

[30]  P. L. Carlton,et al.  CHAPTER 10 – Brain-Acetylcholine and Inhibition1 , 1969 .

[31]  R. Balázs,et al.  Effect of thyroid hormone on the biochemical maturation of rat brain: postnatal cell formation. , 1971, Brain research.

[32]  H. Plotkin,et al.  Ontogeny of spontaneous locomotor activity in rabbit, rat, and guinea pig. , 1975, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[33]  P. Bronstein,et al.  The development of habituation in the rat , 1974 .

[34]  F. Naftolin,et al.  Sexual differentiation of synaptic connectivity and neuronal plasma membrane in the arcuate nucleus of the rat hypothalamus , 1990, Brain Research.

[35]  T. Partridge.  Book Review: The Role of the Major Histocompatibility Complex in Immunobiology , 1982, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

[36]  B. Campbell,et al.  Ontogeny of behavioral arousal. A comparative study. , 1972, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[37]  V. Longo,et al.  Pharmacology of conditioning, learning and retention , 1965 .

[38]  N. Schmajuk.  Role of the hippocampus in temporal and spatial navigation An adaptive neural network , 1990, Behavioural Brain Research.

[39]  P. W. Frey,et al.  Inhibition and learning , 1973 .

[40]  Douglas L. Jones,et al.  From motivation to action: Functional interface between the limbic system and the motor system , 1980, Progress in Neurobiology.

[41]  R. Oppenheim.  Cell death during development of the nervous system. , 1991, Annual review of neuroscience.

[42]  G. Gombos,et al.  The cholinergic system in developing cerebellum: comparative study of normal, hypothyroid and underfed rats. , 1989, Developmental neuroscience.

[43]  G. Lynch,et al.  A quantitative electron microscopic study of synaptogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the rat. , 1973, Brain research.

[44]  Thomas We,et al.  Ontogeny of dopaminergic function in the rat midbrain tegmentum, corpus striatum and frontal cortex. , 1988 .

[45]  R. Sutherland,et al.  Cholinergic receptor blockade impairs spatial localization by use of distal cues in the rat. , 1982, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[46]  J. Tanji,et al.  Anticipatory activity of motor cortex neurons in relation to direction of an intended movement. , 1976, Journal of neurophysiology.

[47]  A. Schousboe,et al.  Neurotransmitters as developmental signals , 1991, Neurochemistry International.

[48]  L. Nadel,et al.  The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map , 1978 .

[49]  Y. Dudai,et al.  Cholinergic binding sites in rat hippocampal formation: Properties and ontogenesis , 1979, Brain Research.

[50]  M. Buhot,et al.  Effects of short-lasting inactivations of the ventral hippocampus and medial septum on long-term and short-term acquisition of spatial information in rats , 1991, Behavioural Brain Research.

[51]  G. Steg,et al.  A mechanographic method for measurement of locomotor activity in rats. Effects of dopaminergic drugs and electric stimulation of the brainstem , 1982, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[52]  H Eichenbaum,et al.  The organization of spatial coding in the hippocampus: a study of neural ensemble activity , 1989, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[53]  M. L. Shik,et al.  Neurophysiology of locomotor automatism. , 1976, Physiological reviews.

[54]  P. L. Carlton.  Cholinergic mechanisms in the control of behavior by the brain. , 1963, Psychological review.

[55]  S Grillner,et al.  Supraspinal and segmental control of static and dynamic gamma-motoneurones in the cat. , 1969, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[56]  E. Jones,et al.  Growth and target finding by axons of the corticospinal tract in prenatal and postnatal rats , 1982, Neuroscience.

[57]  R. Mathur,et al.  Ontogeny of electrical activity of hypothalamic feeding centres in normal & malnourished developing rats. , 1983, The Indian journal of medical research.

[58]  James M. Murphy,et al.  Development of behavioral arousal and inhibition in the Swiss-Webster mouse , 1975 .

[59]  T. Petit,et al.  The pattern of dendritic development in the cerebral cortex of the rat. , 1988, Brain research.

[60]  I. Fish,et al.  Cellular Growth in Various Regions of the Developing Rat Brain , 1969, Pediatric Research.

[61]  J. Altman.  Autoradiographic and histological studies of postnatal neurogenesis. III. Dating the time of production and onset of differentiation of cerebellar microneurons in rats , 1969, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[62]  P. Grassé,et al.  Traite de Zoologie. Anatomie, Systematique, Biologie , 1958 .

[63]  Kisou Kubota,et al.  Preparatory activity of monkey pyramidal tract neurons related to quick movement onset during visual tracking performance , 1979, Brain Research.

[64]  J. Altman,et al.  The effects of early hypo- and hyperthyroidism on the development of rat cerebellar cortex. I. Cell proliferation and differentiation. , 1972, Brain research.

[65]  A. Peters,et al.  Development and maturation of cerebral cortex , 1988 .

[66]  J. Dobbing,et al.  Comparative aspects of the brain growth spurt. , 1979, Early human development.

[67]  John A. Davis,et al.  Scientific Foundations of Paediatrics , 1974 .

[68]  J. Pauly,et al.  A study of postnatal growth of skeletal muscle in the rat , 1965, The Anatomical record.