Variability in rat weight gain during development.

The rat is one of the most employed animal models in biomedicine. Traditionally, weight gain has been utilized to gauge development and compare across species. Numerous studies have conducted longitudinal analyses of rat development, with emphasis on weight gain analysis.

Divergent Pattern of Development in Rats and Humans.

Rattus norvegicus is the second most used laboratory species and the most widely used model in neuroscience. Nonetheless, there is still no agreement regarding the temporal relationship of development between humans and rats. We addressed this question by examining the time required to reach a set of homologous developmental milestones in both species.

Transition to extrauterine life and the modeling of perinatal asphyxia in rats.

Generation of murine models for the study of birth-related pathologies has proven to be a complex and controversial problem. Differences in the relative timing of developmental events of both species have led some researchers to suggest that the rat is born comparatively less developed than the human. The solution proposed to this problem would consist in the delay of the experiments of perinatal asphyxia (PA), usually up to 7-10 days, allowing developmental levels to "equalize" with the human at birth.

Deep hypothermia prevents striatal alterations produced by perinatal asphyxia: Implications for the prevention of dyskinesia and psychosis.

GABAergic medium spiny neurons are the main neuronal population in the striatum. Calbindin is preferentially expressed in medium spiny neurons involved in the indirect pathway. The aim of the present work is to analyze the effect of perinatal asphyxia on different subpopulations of GABAergic neurons in the striatum and to assess the outcome of deep therapeutic hypothermia.

Deep hypothermia reverses behavioral and histological alterations in a rat model of perinatal asphyxia.

The consequences of perinatal asphyxia (PA) include alterations which may manifest as schizophrenia. Characteristic features of this disease include a decrease in specific subpopulations of GABAergic cells and deterioration of social interaction. The purpose of this study is to assess if a deep and short-hypothermic treatment can ameliorate this damage in a model of PA.

Perinatal Asphyxia Reduces the Number of Reelin Neurons in the Prelimbic Cortex and Deteriorates Social Interaction in Rats.

Obstetrical complications of perinatal asphyxia (PA) can often induce lesions that, in the long-term, manifest as schizophrenia. A deterioration of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and a reduction in the number of GABAergic neurons are commonly observed in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated the link between PA, reelin and calbindin diminution and psychiatric diseases that involve social interaction deficits.

Simultaneous projections from prefrontal cortex to dopaminergic and serotonergic nuclei.

Derangements of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and of brainstem monoaminergic systems occur in depression and schizophrenia. Anatomical and functional evidence supports a PFC control of the brainstem monoaminergic systems. Similarly, the PFC contains a high density of monoamine receptors for which antipsychotic drugs exhibit high affinity.

Pyramidal neurons in rat prefrontal cortex projecting to ventral tegmental area and dorsal raphe nucleus express 5-HT2A receptors.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in higher brain functions altered in schizophrenia. Classical antipsychotics modulate cortico-limbic circuits mainly through subcortical D2 receptor blockade, whereas second generation (atypical) antipsychotics preferentially target cortical 5-HT receptors. Anatomical and functional evidence supports a PFC-based control of the brainstem monoaminergic nuclei.