Remote lateralized changes in cortical [3H]spiperone binding following focal frontal cortex lesions in the rat

Positron emission tomography (PET) studies in stroke patients have shown that right hemisphere lesions lead to increases in ipsilateral (compared to contralateral) cortical S2-serotonin receptors, while left hemisphere lesions do not. To assess whether similar lateralized changes in cortical S2-receptors could be demonstrated in response to brain injury in the rat, [3H]spiperone (SP) autoradiography was performed 30 days after unilateral cortical suction lesions. Right lesions produced bilateral increases in total SP binding in frontal cortex (excluding the lesion site): 48% greater than after left lesions, and 23% greater than shams. Left lesions led to bilateral decreases in S2-receptors in the frontal and perirhinal cortex and these decreases were asymmetric. There was a greater decrease in the hemisphere contralateral to the lesion than in the side with the lesion. Frontal S2-receptor binding was positively correlated with running wheel activity in all animals with lesions, regardless of lesion side. These results suggest that there is a lateralized receptor and behavioral response to focal injury in rats, analogous to that previously observed in humans.