title: Sex-specific effects of prenatal stress on neuronal development in the medial prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus.
abstract: Evidence suggests that maternal stress during gestation in humans and animals can cause emotional and cognitive dysfunction in the offspring. In the present study, we examined neurons of the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex of adult rats exposed to prenatal stress. Using a revised Golgi-Cox staining method, we found decreases in dendritic length and complexity in area CA3 and the dentate gyrus of male rats exposed to prenatal stress compared with the controls, as well as decreased dendritic complexity in the prelimbic cortex. In contrast, we did not detect any changes in dendrites of female rats exposed to prenatal stress. Our results suggest that prenatal stress can induce long-lasting morphological changes in the medial prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus that are sex specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suenaga
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yukie
authors.forename: Shuibo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Daiichiro
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nakahara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013312:Stress, Physiological