INHIBITION OF LONG-TERM POTENTIATION IN DEVELOPING RAT VISUAL-CORTEX BUT NOT HIPPOCAMPUS BY IN-UTERO EXPOSURE TO POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS

The neurotoxic potential of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) depends o n the structure of the congener as well as on the age of the exposure. We exposed rats prenatally to a coplanar congener (PCB-77) or to a no n-coplanar congener (PCB-47) and measured the amount of long-term pote ntiation (LTP) at postnatal days 11-19 in the visual cortex and hippoc ampus. While PCB-77 exposure affected LTP statistically significantly in cortical but not hippocampal slices, the exposure to PCB-47 was muc h less effective. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.