EFFECTS OF A BRIEF SENSORIMOTOR TRAINING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIORAL-INHIBITION IN THE MOUSE

In the young C57B16 mouse, the hyperexcitability phase ('pop-corn' sta ge) which normally occurs around the 16-18th postnatal day and lasts 3 -6 days, was greatly shortened by an intensive sensorimotor training w hen the 'pop-corn' stage appeared. It was prevented when the animals w ere trained for 4 days before it appeared. This might suggest, at leas t in part, that an early short duration sensorimotor training increase d the rate of maturation of the inhibitory systems that sustain the de velopment of the motor behavior. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.