[Effect of acoustic stress on morphology of rat sensorimotor cortex].

The structure and ultrastructure of the sensomotor cortex in pubertal rats were studied 7, 14 and 21 days after acoustic stress. Focal peripheral chromatolysis and pigment accumulation by lysosomes were found in neurons after 14 and 21 days of exposure to noise. The number of lysosomes in which pigment was accumulated, and multivesicular bodies appeared, increased in the glial cells. The cavities of granular reticulum widened because of the accumulation by them of muddy secretion. These phenomena indicate the diffusive character of structural changes in the cortex of the large hemispheres under acoustic stress. It has been noted that young animals exposed to noise manifest changes characteristic of the process of aging.