[Electrical activity of thalamo-cortical associative systems during postnatal ontogeny in the cat].

Electrical responses to somatic, light and sound stimulation were recorded in sensorimotor, parietal, temporal and occipital areas in nembutal anaesthetised kittens (from the 3d to the 41st days of life) using the method of averaged evoked potentials. Evoked potentials to the above stimuli were recorded in lateral posterior (LP) and ventral lateral (VL) thalamic nuclei. Afferent inputs to the association cortical areas are shown to mature in a certain succession. Parietal cortex grows polysensory earlier than the sensorimotor cortex. Lateral posterior is supposed to be the main thalamic nucleus responsible for visual information relay to the cortex during the first month of kittens life. Ventral lateral nucleus joins the system of somatic impulse transfer to the sensorimotor cortex by the third week of life.