Changes in dendritic spine density on layer 2/3 pyramidal cells within the cingulate cortex of late pregnant and postpartum rats

A rapid upregulation of astrocytic protein expression within area 2 of the cingulate cortex (Cg2) of the maternal rat occurs within 3 h postpartum and persists throughout lactation. Previous studies have shown that similar changes in astrocytic proteins can signal changes in local synapses and dendr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Hormones and behavior Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. 65 - 71
Main Authors:	Salmaso, N., Quinlan, M.G., Brake, W.G., Woodside, B.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-06-2011 Elsevier Elsevier BV
Subjects:	Animals Behavioral psychophysiology Biological and medical sciences CA1 Region, Hippocampal - cytology Cells Dendritic Spines - ultrastructure Female Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Gyrus Cinguli - cytology Hippocampus Hormones Hormones and behavior Lactation Neural plasticity Neurons Postpartum Period - physiology Prefrontal cortex Pregnancy Proteins Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychology. Psychophysiology Pyramidal Cells - ultrastructure Rats Rats, Wistar Reproductive experience Rodents Reproductive experience Neural plasticity Prefrontal cortex Lactation Hippocampus Rat Rodentia Central nervous system Puerperium Density Encephalon Pregnancy Vertebrata Mammalia Cingulate cortex Animal Plasticity Dendritic spine Pyramidal neuron
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Summary:	A rapid upregulation of astrocytic protein expression within area 2 of the cingulate cortex (Cg2) of the maternal rat occurs within 3 h postpartum and persists throughout lactation. Previous studies have shown that similar changes in astrocytic proteins can signal changes in local synapses and dendritic spines. Thus, here we used the Golgi–Cox impregnation technique to compare spine density in layer 2 and 3 pyramidal cells of Cg2, the CA1 region of the hippocampus and the parietal cortex (ParCx) among metestrus, late pregnant (LP), 3-hour postpartum (3H PP) and 16-day postpartum rats (D16 PP). Rats in the 3H PP group had higher numbers of dendritic spines/10 μm on the apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons in both Cg2 and CA1 than the other groups, which did not differ. A similar pattern was observed in basilar dendrites but this failed to reach significance. In Cg2, Sholl analysis revealed that rats in the D16 PP group had a significantly greater extent of dendritic arborization in the basilar region than any other group. These data suggest that the changes in astrocytic proteins that occur in Cg2 in the postpartum period are associated with neuronal plasticity in pyramidal layers 2 and 3. ► Spine density in cingulate cortex area 2 pyramidal neurons increases 3h postpartum. ► On Day 16 pp. dendritic arborization is increased in Cg2 but spine density is not. ► Spine density is also increased in area CA1 immediately after birth. ► Capacity for reorganization of neural circuits in Cg2 and CA1 increases by 3h pp.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0018-506X 1095-6867
DOI:	10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.03.002