Perinatal gonadectomy affects corticocortical connections in motor but not visual cortex in adult male rats

Sexual dimorphisms and/or hormone modifiability have been documented for numerous structural endpoints in the cerebral cortex, including cortical thickness and dendrite morphology. The present study asked whether gonadal steroids might also sculpt cortical circuit organization. Accordingly, neonatal gonadectomy, with and without testosterone propionate replacement, was followed by fine-grained microcircuit tract tracing analyses of the organization of corticocortical circuits of identified layers of primary motor and primary visual cortices in the same animals in adulthood. Comparative analyses revealed neither qualitative nor quantitative differences in visual cortical circuit organization between gonadectomized and control animals. In primary motor cortex, circuit organization was also qualitatively similar in the two animal groups. However, quantitative analyses uncovered small, but highly consistent, decreases in the horizontal breadth of motor cortical connections in the hormonally deprived group. These decreases were attenuated in gonadectomized rats that were supplemented with testosterone propionate. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of cytoarchitecture revealed that visual and motor circuits in both gonadectomized groups resided in cortical areas with dimensions that were statistically invariant from corresponding measures obtained in control animals. These findings suggest that cortical circuits should be among anatomical substrates considered in relation to observed sex differences in and/or hormone modifiability of the maturation of identified cortical functions. These findings may also have relevance for cortical dysmaturation and dysfunction in disorders such as schizophrenia and dyslexia, diseases in which sex differences in incidence suggest some role for gonadal steroids.