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Gender- and anxiety level-dependent effects of perinatal stress exposure on medial prefrontal cortex

Erdem Soztutar1, Ertugrul Colak2, Emel Ulupinar1

  • 1Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, 26040, Eskisehir, Turkey; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Department, Health Science Institute of Eskisehir Osmangazi University, 26040, Eskisehir, Turkey.

Experimental Neurology
|June 10, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Early life stress impacts brain development, altering neuronal structure in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). This study reveals how stress affects dendritic complexity and spine density, correlating with anxiety levels in rats.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Biology

Background:

  • Early life stress (ELS) is linked to psychopathology.
  • The prefrontal cortex (PFC), crucial for cognition and behavior, develops over a prolonged period, making it vulnerable to ELS.
  • Understanding ELS's neural underpinnings is vital for predicting and mitigating mental health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of perinatal stress on the dendritic morphology of medial PFC neurons in rats.
  • To correlate neuronal changes with anxiety-like behaviors.
  • To explore sex-dependent differences in stress-induced neural alterations.

Main Methods:

  • Perinatal stress exposure in rats.
  • Unbiased stereological counting of c-Fos (+) nuclei to assess neuronal activation.
  • Golgi-Cox staining to analyze dendritic complexity and spine density of medial PFC pyramidal neurons.
  • Correlation analysis between dendritic morphology and anxiety levels.

Main Results:

  • Neuronal activation (c-Fos (+) nuclei) increased in high-anxious rats compared to controls, irrespective of sex.
  • Anxiety and sex influenced dendritic complexity and spine density, with stressed males showing significant reductions.
  • Mushroom spine density negatively correlated with anxiety levels in stressed animals, while total dendritic length did not.

Conclusions:

  • The medial PFC is a key site for neural plasticity in response to stressor controllability.
  • ELS-induced changes in dendritic spine density and morphology in the medial PFC can predict anxiety-like behavior.
  • These findings highlight the medial PFC's role in the long-term consequences of early life stress.

Keywords:
AnxietyDendritic lengthGolgi–Cox stainingMaternal separationMedial prefrontal cortexMushroom spinePrenatal stressStubby spineThin spinec-Fos

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