Development of the evoked potentials in the thalamus and cerebral cortex after stimulation of the stellate ganglion afferents in kittens

The primary evoked potentials (EP) were studied in newborn, 10-, 20-day-old, 1-month-old kittens in the thalamus and cerebral cortex after stimulation of the stellate ganglion (SG) afferents. The nerves were irritated with single square-wave pulses with an amplitude of 1.2–1.3 threshold for EP appearance. In all kittens, EP were registered in the same zones as in adult animals. In the thalamus, this zone was represented by the centromedial part of the ventralis posterior lateralis (n. VPL), contralaterally to the stimulation place. In the cerebral cortex, the EP were observed in the cerebral cortex, specifically in the somatosensory zones S1 and S2 also contralaterally to the stimulation place. In postnatal ontogenesis, the latency of evoked potentials decreases, amplitude increases and the form of these potentials transforms from negative in newborn kittens to positive–negative wave in 1-month-old animals. Maturation of the SG afferent pathways exists in parallel with the somatosensory ones and does not finish at 1 month of life.