A field potential analysis study of the effects of prenatal protein malnutrition on maturation of the dentate granule cell response

Unlike the vast majority of cells making up the rat central nervous system, the granule cell population of the hippocampal dentate gyrus develops primarily after birth. Only about 20% of these cells are in place at the time of birth, with the remaining 80% reaching functional maturity by around 30 days of postnatal development. This relatively unique developmental pattern provides an opportunity to assess the impact of insults encountered during the gestational period on the subsequent development and maturation of a brain structure intimately involved in such fundamental processes as spatial navigation, learning, and memory. In addition, the morphology of the hippocampal dentate gyrus, with its laminated arrangement of densely packed cell bodies and specifically oriented apical and basilar projections, provides a structure well-suited to electrophysiological characterization employing field potential analysis. The present study was undertaken to examine the impact of prenatal protein malnutrition on the development of neuronal transmission across the perforant path-dentate granule cell synapse of the hippocampal formation in freely moving rats as they matured from 15 to 30 days of age