Functional Parasagittal Compartments in the Rat Cerebellar Cortex: An In Vivo Optical Imaging Study Using Neutral Red. CHEN, G., C. L. HANSON and T. J. EBNER. Departments of Neurosurgery and Physiology, and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
APStracts 3:0198N, 1996.
ABSTRACT
1 . The spatial patterns of pH change in the rat cerebellar cortex evoked by peripheral stimulation were studied in vivo using optical imaging techniques. 2 . Crus I and Crus II were stained with the pH sensitive dye, neutral red. Electrical stimulation of the vibrissae area of the ipsilateral face evoked optical responses consisting of parasagittal bands. The bands were 100-300 [mu] m in width, elongated in the anterior-posterior direction, commonly extended across at least two folia, and varied in number from 1-7. 3 . The optical responses were dependent on activation of postsynaptic elements since they were decreased substantially by the non- N -methyl- D -aspartate (non- NMDA) antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). The optical bands were shown to correspond anatomically with the parasagittal compartments revealed by immunostaining with anti-zebrin II. 4 . The present study demonstrates that functional parasagittal compartments exist in the rat cerebellar cortex and suggests that zebrin-positive Purkinje cell subgroups are anatomically related to this functional organization. 

Received 9 July 1996; accepted in final form 3 September 1996.
APS Manuscript Number J540-6.
Article publication pending J. Neurophysiol.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 7 October 1996