# Semi-Natural Rearing Conditions Alter the Trajectory of Sensorimotor Cortical Development: Functional Connectivity and Behavior

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2021 · $38,674

## Abstract

The developing neocortex is highly malleable. Early experience tunes neural systems to match an organism’s
environmental context, allowing the organism to generate adaptive behavior necessary for survival, growth,
and reproduction in a changing environment. For decades, paradigms of sensory deprivation and enrichment
have been used to show how early sensory input dramatically alters the connectivity and functional
organization of primary sensory areas in the neocortex. How these changes in sensory input lead to changes
in motor output, and how the developmental trajectory is altered to produce these changes, is unknown.
Further, there are few studies that examine how differences in motor opportunities (affordances), particularly
those available in large three-dimensional spaces, impact the motor system. We address this issue by rearing
rats in a dynamic semi-natural environment 3000 times the size of standard laboratory cages, and quantifying
changes in the connectivity and functional organization of motor cortex, and subsequent behavior, at different
developmental milestones. In the current proposal, we seek to elucidate what and when specific modifications
are made to motor cortex due to variations in the early postnatal environment. We will do this by comparing
the emergence of sensorimotor behaviors between laboratory and semi-naturally reared rats, quantifying
differences in when behavioral milestones are reached, how well animals accomplish sensorimotor tasks, and
what strategies they use to do so. Following behavioral assays, we will examine differences in the intrinsic
connectivity (microcircuitry) and organization of primary motor cortex (M1), assessing the distribution and
density of connections between movement representations within M1. Additionally, we will examine the
emergence of movement representations of different body parts within M1 at different developmental time
points using intracortical microstimulation techniques. Finally, we will quantify differences in the macrocircuitry
of M1, examining connectivity with other cortical fields within and across hemispheres as well as with
subcortical structures. This is the first study that rears laboratory animals in a large and dynamic wild-type
environment to systematically address how early experience impacts the development of motor areas of the
cortex and the coordinated behaviors that the brain generates.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10051332
- **Project number:** 5F31NS115242-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Mackenzie Englund
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $38,674
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-01-03 → 2023-01-02

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10051332

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10051332, Semi-Natural Rearing Conditions Alter the Trajectory of Sensorimotor Cortical Development: Functional Connectivity and Behavior (5F31NS115242-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10051332. Licensed CC0.

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