Perinatal exposure to 60‐Hz electric fields: Effects on the development of the visual‐evoked response in rats

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Abstract
Two independent series of experiments were performed on 114 male Sprague‐Dawley derived, albino rat pups, which represented 61 litters in experimental series I and 53 litters in experimental series II. Animals were exposed for 20 h/day from conception to testing (postnatal days 11–20) to a vertical, 65‐kV/m, 60‐Hz electric field or sham‐exposed. Recordings of the visual‐evoked response (VER) were obtained using a small silver ball electrode placed epidurally over the visual cortex. Visual stimuli consisted of 10‐μS light flashes delivered at 0.2 Hz. Computer‐averaged VERs were obtained and power spectral analyses (fast Fourier transform) were performed on the tapered (split cosine‐bell window), averaged VERs. The expected age‐related changes were clearly evident; however, a detailed analysis of VER component latencies, peak‐to‐peak amplitude, and power spectra failed to reveal any consistent, statistically significant effect of exposure to 60‐Hz electric fields.