Astrocyte and Neuronal Plasticity in the Somatosensory System

Figure 1

The murine whiskers have a corresponding somatotopic representation in the cortex. The location of the whiskers on the mouse’s snout is shown in (a), with the corresponding barrels labelled in (b). The murine barrel field (cortical layer IV) was stained for cytochrome oxidase histochemistry (c). The lesion (red circle) was made by passing a small current through a carbon fibre electrode and indicates the D1 barrel. The somatotopic arrangement of barrels provides an excellent reference point for plasticity experiments by the removal of whiskers.

(a)

(b)

(c)