文本框: ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULATION IMPROVES FUNCTIONAL DEFICITS INDUCED BY HYPOXIC-ISCHEMIC BRAIN DAMAGE IN NEONATAL RATS CAO Y 1, SHAO X-M, MEI Z-T 2, et al. 1 Children’s Hospital, Fudan University Medical Center, Shanghai, China 2 Shanghai Institute of Physiology, Academia Sinica, Shanghai, China Objective: The present study was carried out to observe the influence of environmental stimulation on functional outcome of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) in neonatal rats. Methods: Seven-day-old male SD rats underwent right common carotid artery ligation, followed by hypoxia (FiO2=0.08). Rats received neonatal handling 3 d after hypoxia-ischemia and then were kept in an enriched environment for 30 d. One behavioral task (discrimination learning in tri-equal-arm maze) and 2 sensorimotor functional tests (suspension test and beam- walking test) were used to evaluate the functional outcome. The extend of brain damage in sensorimotor cortex and hippocampus were assessed histologically at last. Results: Both learning ability and sensorimotor function of treated animals were better than those of control animals (P<0.01). There was no significant difference with regard to the degree of brain damage between treated animals and control animals (P>0.05). Conclution: Environmental stimulation can improve the sensorimotor functional outcome and the discrimination learning ability of neonatal rats with HIBD. 0889