Hippocampal morphology is differentially affected by reproductive experience in the mother
β Scribed by Pawluski, Jodi L. ;Galea, Liisa A.M.
- Book ID
- 102544685
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 297 KB
- Volume
- 66
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-3034
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β¦ Synopsis
Pregnancy and mothering result in a number of hormonal, neurological, and behavioral changes that are necessary to ensure reproductive success. With subsequent reproductive experience (multiparity and mothering), further neurological and behavioral changes may result. Recent research has shown that previous motherhood enhances both hippocampus-dependent learning and memory and long-term potentiation (LTP); together with decreases in hippocampus volumes during pregnancy it is suggested that the hippocampus is affected by pregnancy and/or mothering. The present experiment aimed to investigate the effect of reproductive experience (nulli, primi-, and multiparity and mothering) on dendritic morphology in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus. Brains were stained with a modified version of the single-section Golgi impregnation technique, and dendritic length, number of branch points, and spine density was analyzed for apical and basal regions of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons. Primiparity and/or mothering resulted in dendritic remodeling in both the CA1 and CA3 hippocampal regions, and multiparity resulted in enhanced spine density in the basal CA1 region, which was positively correlated with number of male pups in a litter. These findings point to the effect of reproductive experience and offspring on plasticity in the hippocampus, an area not traditionally associated with motherhood.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
## Abstract Adultβgenerated hippocampal immature neurons play a functional role after integration in functional circuits. Previously, we found that hippocampusβdependent learning in Morris water maze affects survival of immature neurons, even before they are synaptically contacted. Beside learning,
## Abstract Mice born from high careβgiving females show, as adults, low anxiety levels, decreased responsiveness to stress, and substantial improvements in cognitive function and hippocampal plasticity. Given the relevance of this issue for preventing emotional and cognitive abnormalities in highβ