A NEUROANATOMICAL METHOD TO ASSESS THE INTEGRITY OF FIBERS OF PASSAGEFOLLOWING IBOTENATE-INDUCED DAMAGE TO THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

In some behavioral-lesion experiments involving animals, ibotenic acid (IBO) is used as a means of damaging brain structures. Occasionally o ne needs to assess the status of fibers coursing through the damaged a rea to determine whether the deficits observed are the result of destr uction of neurons rather than fibers. In such cases, IBO, is considere d to be the method of choice since it destroys cell bodies but leaves fibers of passage intact. However, if the IBO dose injected in a given area is too high, both cell bodies and fibers of passage could be dam aged. The anterograde and retrograde tracer wheat germ agglutinin-hors eradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) is a useful technique to verify that fibe rs are intact, and is a more powerful tool in comparison with a tracer , such as HRP, which has been used in previous studies. (C) 1997 Elsev ier Science Ireland Ltd.