Behavioral effects of CNS transplants in the rat

Embryonic forebrain tissue from 17-day embryos was transplanted into the midline cerebellum of 10-day-old rat pups. The animals were allowed to survive for behavioral testing and were compared with animals receiving aspiration lesions of midline cerebellum and with normal controls. Subsequent histology indicated that the transplanted tissue had produced a compression lesion of the host cerebellum and had become fully integrated with the neuropil of the host animal. Behavioral results revealed no significant differences between transplant and control animals. Both of these groups were discriminably different from the lesion condition. It is suggested that the transplant may establish afferent and efferent connections similar to those present in the intact animal and thus may be anatomically well integrated with the host brain.