Prenatal stress modifies hippocampal synaptic plasticity and spatial learning in young rat offspring
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Jianli Yang1, Huili Han, Jun Cao
1Mental Health Institute, The 2nd Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410011, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
Insights
Prenatal stress negatively impacts brain plasticity and spatial memory in young rats. These effects on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus persist and are exacerbated by subsequent acute stress.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Stress Research
Background:
- Prenatal stress is linked to cognitive deficits and affective disorders in offspring.
- The precise neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of prenatal stress on hippocampal synaptic plasticity in young rats.
- To explore the role of prenatal stress in spatial learning and memory deficits.
Main Methods:
- Prenatal stress was induced via foot shocks during gestation.
- Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) were assessed.
- Spatial learning and memory were evaluated using the Morris water maze.
Main Results:
- Prenatal stress impaired hippocampal LTP and facilitated LTD in offspring.
- Cross-fostering did not alter these effects, indicating a direct impact of prenatal stress.
- Prenatal stress amplified the effects of acute stress on synaptic plasticity and impaired spatial memory.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal stress significantly alters hippocampal synaptic plasticity.
- These alterations contribute to impaired spatial learning and memory in young offspring.
- Prenatal stress enhances the vulnerability of hippocampal plasticity to subsequent stressors.
Abstract:
Clinical studies demonstrate that prenatal stress causes cognitive deficits and increases vulnerability to affective disorders in children and adolescents. The underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Here, we reported that prenatal stress (10 unpredictable, 1 s, 0.8 mA foot shocks per day during gestational days 13-19) impaired long-term potentiation (LTP) but facilitated long-term depression (LTD) in hippocampal CA1 region in slices of the prenatal stressed offspring (5 weeks old). Cross-fostering neonate offspring by the prenatal stressed or control mothers did not change the effects of prenatal stress on the hippocampal LTP and LTD. Furthermore, prenatal stress enhanced the effects of acute stress on the hippocampal LTP and LTD and impaired spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze in the young rat offspring. Therefore, prenatal stress alters synaptic plasticity and enhances the effects of acute stress on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, which may be the mechanism for the impaired spatial learning and memory in young rat offspring.
