{"id":{"repo_id":"lethbridge","oai_identifier":"oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/13"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/lethbridge/oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/13","repository":{"repo_id":"lethbridge","name":"University of Lethbridge","base_url":"https://opus.uleth.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Perinatal experience alters brain development and functional recovery after cerebral injury in rats","abstract":"Brain damage in the first week of life is behaviorally and anatomically devastating for a rat. I investigated the use of pre- and/or postnatal experience as interventions that might improve the outcomes in rats with postnatal day 4 (P4) frontal cortex lesions. Prenatal maternal tactile stimulation or maternal complex housing facilitated recovery in P4 lesion animals and produced changes in brain organization. Post-lesion tactile stimulation also was found to be beneficial possibly via experience dependent changes in FGF-2 expression. Levels of FGF-2 were increased in both skin and brain after tactile stimulation and correlated with behavioral and anatomical changes. Direct post-lesion administration of FGF-2 had similar effects. These results are the first demonstration that prenatal experience can be prophylactic for postnatal brain injury and that behavioral experience can act on brain organization via enhanced trophic factor expression originating in skin.","abstract_html":"Brain damage in the first week of life is behaviorally and anatomically devastating for a rat. I investigated the use of pre- and/or postnatal experience as interventions that might improve the outcomes in rats with postnatal day 4 (P4) frontal cortex lesions. Prenatal maternal tactile stimulation or maternal complex housing facilitated recovery in P4 lesion animals and produced changes in brain organization. Post-lesion tactile stimulation also was found to be beneficial possibly via experience dependent changes in FGF-2 expression. Levels of FGF-2 were increased in both skin and brain after tactile stimulation and correlated with behavioral and anatomical changes. Direct post-lesion administration of FGF-2 had similar effects. These results are the first demonstration that prenatal experience can be prophylactic for postnatal brain injury and that behavioral experience can act on brain organization via enhanced trophic factor expression originating in skin.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gibb, Robbin L.","University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004","date_published":"2004","updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:02:17Z","subjects":["Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Research","Dissertations, Academic","Brain damage -- Research","Rats -- Physiology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["hdl:10133/13"],"render_values":[{"text":"hdl:10133/13","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2004"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Research","Dissertations, Academic","Brain damage -- Research","Rats -- Physiology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["hdl:10133/13"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.other","label":"Dc Description Other","values":["Brain damage in the first week of life is behaviorally and anatomically devastating for a rat. I investigated the use of pre- and/or postnatal experience as interventions that might improve the outcomes in rats with postnatal day 4 (P4) frontal cortex lesions. Prenatal maternal tactile stimulation or maternal complex housing facilitated recovery in P4 lesion animals and produced changes in brain organization. Post-lesion tactile stimulation also was found to be beneficial possibly via experience dependent changes in FGF-2 expression. Levels of FGF-2 were increased in both skin and brain after tactile stimulation and correlated with behavioral and anatomical changes. Direct post-lesion administration of FGF-2 had similar effects. These results are the first demonstration that prenatal experience can be prophylactic for postnatal brain injury and that behavioral experience can act on brain organization via enhanced trophic factor expression originating in skin."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Perinatal experience alters brain development and functional recovery after cerebral injury in rats"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:date.issued":["2004"],"dc:description.other":["Brain damage in the first week of life is behaviorally and anatomically devastating for a rat. I investigated the use of pre- and/or postnatal experience as interventions that might improve the outcomes in rats with postnatal day 4 (P4) frontal cortex lesions. Prenatal maternal tactile stimulation or maternal complex housing facilitated recovery in P4 lesion animals and produced changes in brain organization. Post-lesion tactile stimulation also was found to be beneficial possibly via experience dependent changes in FGF-2 expression. Levels of FGF-2 were increased in both skin and brain after tactile stimulation and correlated with behavioral and anatomical changes. Direct post-lesion administration of FGF-2 had similar effects. These results are the first demonstration that prenatal experience can be prophylactic for postnatal brain injury and that behavioral experience can act on brain organization via enhanced trophic factor expression originating in skin."],"dc:identifier":["hdl:10133/13"],"dc:subject":["Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Research","Dissertations, Academic","Brain damage -- Research","Rats -- Physiology"],"dc:title":["Perinatal experience alters brain development and functional recovery after cerebral injury in rats"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:02:17Z"}