Synaptogenesis and dendritic growth in the cortex opposite unilateral sensorimotor cortex damage in adult rats: a quantitative electron microscopic examination.

Unilateral lesions of the forelimb area of the sensorimotor cortex in adult rats resulted in time-dependent increases in the number of synapses per neuron and the volume and membrane surface area of dendritic processes per neuron within layer V of the contralateral motor cortex in comparison to sham-operated rats. Based on previous findings of a behavioral relationship with increased dendritic arborization, these changes may be related to lesion-induced compensatory changes in the use of the non-impaired (ipsilateral to the lesion) forelimb.