Synchronization of Endogenous Somato- and Visceromotor Activities in Rats in Ontogenesis

It is shown in the experiments on rat pups at the age from neonatal to the end of the 3rd week that bursts of spontaneous somatosensory excitation characteristic of altricial animals at the early postnatal ontogenesis have a pronounced tendency for synchronization with oscillations of the electrical activity level in the antral part of the gastric wall and duodenum. These oscillations represent the so-called secondary rhythms that superpose basic rhythms and are responsible for intersystem interactions. Since the 2nd week after birth the synchronization level decreases essentially. Vagotomy performed at this period increases again the synchronization, which suggests the desynchronizing role of parasympathetic innervation in the process of development.