Laminar-specific distribution of zinc: evidence for presence of layer IV in forelimb motor cortex in the rat.

ABSTRACT: The rat is the most widely studied pre-clinical model system of various neurological and neurodegenerative disorders affecting hand function. Although brain injury to the forelimb region of the motor cortex in rats mostly induces behavioral abnormalities in motor control of hand movements, behavioral deficits in the sensory-motor domain are also observed. This questions the prevailing view that cortical layer IV, a recipient of sensory information from the thalamus, is absent in rat motor cortex. Because zinc-containing neurons are generally not found in pathways that run from the thalamus, an absence of zinc (Zn) in a cortical layer would be suggestive of sensory input from the thalamus. To test this hypothesis, we used synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence imaging to measure Zn distributi

SUBMITTER: Alaverdashvili M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4490894 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature