Rapid phase shift of evoked potentials in barrel cortex accompanies conditioning

TL;DRAbstract

INTRODUCTION AND METHODS. Rat barrel cortex undergo plastic changes during sensory experience (3). Twenty four hours o f pairing o f untrimmed whiskers leads to short lasting changes in supraand infragranular layers o f corresponding cortical columns. In order to reveal the early dynamics o f this process we studied evoked responses recorded by bipolar electrodes chronically implanted in the barrel cortex o f five hooded rats during classical conditioning. Rats were accustomed to resting in a plexiglass tube with head restrained in a holder. A piezoelectric device stimulated one vibrissa to produce evoked potentials (EP). The experiment consisted o f 5 consecutive daily sessions. During one session, lasting for about an hour, the animal received 100 vibrissa stimulations with intervals randomly scattered from 30 to 45 s. The first two sessions allowed habituation o f the EPs. During the third session, the stimulation o f the vibrissa (CS) was followed by a weak electric shock (US) appl

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