Unilateral brain injury to pregnant rats induces asymmetric neurological deficits in the offspring

Effects of environmental factors may be transmitted to the following generation, and cause neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder in offspring. Enhanced synaptic plasticity induced by enrichment also transmitted. We here test hypothesis that effects brain injury pregnant animals produce neurological deficits Unilateral (UBI) ablation hindlimb sensorimotor cortex rats resulted development postural asymmetry (HL-PA), impairment balance coordination beam walking The offspring with left UBI exhibited HL-PA before after spinal cord transection contralesional (i.e., right) flexion. right caused develop however was cryptic not-lateralized; it evident only spinalization, characterized similar occurrence ipsi- persisted spinalization suggesting encoded lumbar neurocircuits control muscles. Balance were affected but not UBI. Thus, a unilateral lesion intergenerationally transmitted, this process depend on side injury. results suggest existence left-right side-specific mechanisms mediate transmission lateralized trauma from mother fetus.