Effects of preweaning environmental stimulation on neuronal and behavioral impairment produced by undernutrition

The present study investigates the effects of sensorimotor stimulation on the basal dendrogenesis of superficial cerebrocortical neurons and the accomplishment in the associated exploratory behavior in rats simultaneously exposed to nutritional deprivation. Sprague-Dawley albino rats were submitted to nutritional-environmental influences from birth to the 21st postnatal day. Exploratory behavior was assessed by the evaluation of locomotor activity in the open-field apparatus. In order to evaluate changes in neuronal morphology induced by nutritional-environmental variables, brains were stained according to the Golgi-Cox-Sholl procedure. Dendritic development was assessed under camera lucida by measuring basal dendritic branching of layer II and III pyramidal neurons, located in the dorsomedial region of the visual cortex of the rat. Morphometrical analysis revealed that both basal dendritic length and branching were significantly reduced by undernutrition. In contrast, environmental stimulation during the suckling period compensated for the neuronal impairment produced by protein-calorie deprivation. An improvement was also observed in exploratory behavior although to a lesser degree, as shown by the open field test data. In conclusion, the present results indicate that sensorimotor stimulation applied during the period of fastest rate of cortical cytodifferentiation compensates for neuronal and behavioral impairment produced by undernutrition.