Application of the simplified method of optic recording for mapping focuses of the neuronal activity in the somatosensory cortex of the white rats

In rats, a differential signal was used for evoking an optical image in the barrel-field zone which represented a difference between cortical images during the control and the stimulation periods. After a subtraction of averaged sequences of frames, an image of spots reflecting a probable location of activated groups of neurones was obtained. Natural low frequency stimulation of vibrissae is supposed to be the most effective. The method of intrinsic optical activity imaging can be applied for preliminary mapping of cortical zones.