We have previously observed that prolonged O(2) deprivation alters membrane protein expression and membrane properties in the central nervous system. In this work, we studied the effect of prolonged O(2) deprivation on the electrical activity of rat cortical and hippocampal neurons during postnatal development and its relationship to Na(+) channels. Rats were raised in low O(2) environment (inspired O(2) concentration = 9.5+/-0.5%) for 3-4 weeks, starting at an early age (2-3 days old). Using electrophysiologic recordings in brain slices, RNA analysis (northern and slot blots) and saxitoxin (a specific ligand for Na(+) channels) binding autoradiography, we addressed two questions: (1) does long-term O(2) deprivation alter neuronal excitability in the neocortical and hippocampal neurons during postnatal development? and (2) if so, what are the main mechanisms responsible for the change in excitability in the exposed brain? Our results show that (i) baseline membrane properties of cortical and hippocampal CA1 neurons from rats chronically exposed to hypoxia were not substantially different from those of naive neurons; (ii) acute stress (e.g., hypoxia) elicited a markedly exaggerated response in the exposed neurons as compared to naive ones; (iii) chronic hypoxia tended to increase Na(+) channel mRNA and saxitoxin binding density in the cortex and hippocampus as compared to control ones; and (iv) the enhanced neuronal response to acute hypoxia in the exposed cortical and CA1 neurons was considerably attenuated by applying tetrodotoxin, a voltage-sensitive Na(+) channel blocker, in a dose-dependent manner. We conclude that prolonged O(2) deprivation can lead to major electrophysiological disturbances, especially when exposed neurons are stressed acutely, which renders the chronically exposed neurons more vulnerable to subsequent micro-environmental stress. We suggest that this Na(+) channel-related over-excitability is likely to constitute a molecular mechanism for some neurological sequelae, such as epilepsy, resulting from perinatal hypoxic encephalopathy.