Comparison of the behavior of rats after immobilization with structural changes in the motor cortex

Behavioral and neuronal-glial changes after emotional stress induced by discontinuous (7-8 h per day for one week) immobilization were compared in Wistar rats (n = 20). Immobilization led to increases in horizontal and vertical activity and the duration of "comfort" grooming in the open field test. Morphometric measurements demonstrated significant increases in the density of hypoxic neurons in the motor area of the right hemisphere of experimental animals as compared with measures in controls. Hypoxic changes in neurons were functional in nature. Experimental rats can be regarded as a model of the redistribution of brain functional activity with a preferential increase in the role of the left hemisphere.