Number of synaptic vesicles in the rat somatosensory cortex after repetitive electrical stimulation prolonging...

The sensorimotor area of the cerebral cortex of rats was repetitively electrically stimulated (8 Hz for sec) at 10-min intervals, inducing a gradual prolongation of self-sustained after-discharges (SSADs). At 10 min after termination of the third SSAD, the animals were perfused with a fixation solution. The homotopic area of the contralateral hemisphere was examined in the electron microscope. In the II cortical layer, the agranular synaptic vesicles in type I synapses (after Gray) were counted close to the synaptic cleft. The number of synaptic vesicles was significantly increased in the experimental animals.