The neurotoxic potential of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) depends on the structure of the congener as well as on the age of the exposure. We exposed rats prenatally to a coplanar congener (PCB-77) or to a non-coplanar congener (PCB-47) and measured the amount of long-term potentiation (LTP) at postnatal days 11-19 in the visual cortex and hippocampus. While PCB-77 exposure affected LTP statistically significantly in cortical but not hippocampal slices, the exposure to PCB-47 was much less effective.
Aging Animals