Perinatal experience alters brain development and functional recovery after cerebral injury in rats

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It has been well established that early postnatal experience causes lasting changes in cerebral and behavioral organization in the rat but the details of how this happens are still poorly understood. In addition, studies directed at the role of maternal experience in fetal brain development have focused mainly on the negative effects of inadequate  nutrition, prenatal stress, and drug abuse.  My previous research looked at the potential utility of pre- and postnatal environmental stimulation to improve behavioral recovery after early cortical injury in rats. I have shown maternal tactile stimulation or complex housing has a prophylactic effect on later injury.  I have also demonstrated that the skin is capable of producing proteins like basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF-2, a growth factor known to stimulate plasticity in brain) in response to tactile stimulation and these proteins appear to facilitate recovery from early-brain injury. Tactilely stimulated pups showed increased expression of the receptor for FGF-2, FGFR1in the cortex and lesion animals that received tactile stimulation also showed an upregulation of bFGF expression in the remaining frontal cortex.  The main goals of the proposed research are to gain an understanding of the following: 1) How perinatal experience (in the form of maternal or postnatal tactile stimulation, maternal complex housing, or maternal exercise) affects brain and behavioral development in normal animals; 2) How perinatal experience interacts with early brain injury to promote or inhibit functional recovery; 3) How changes in brain development produced by early experience influence the impact of later experience on brain plasticity; 4) The potential for skin stimulation to induce local production of growth factors that play a role in brain plasticity.