Absence of change in some measures of cortical morphology in dark-reared adult rats

The frontal and visual cortices of 200-day-old rats were microscopically examined after staining with Golgi-Cox. Measures included cellular density, total thickness of cortex, thickness of Layers 1 and 3, and nuclear volumes in three layers. No differences between dark- and light- reared Ss were found within brain regions. The data are interpreted in terms of current literature on cortical effects of sensory deprivation.