Experience-dependent alteration of zinc-containing circuits in somatosensory cortex of the mouse

Abstract

Histochemical staining was used to localize zinc-sequestering terminals in somatosensory barrel cortex of normal mice and mice subjected to tactile deprivation by simple whisker trimming from birth. In normal mice, density of synaptic zinc was highest in laminae I, II and V, intermediate in laminae III and VI, and lowest in lamina IV barrel hollows. Whisker trimming from birth led to increased density of synaptic zinc specifically within deprived barrel hollows.