title: Hippocampal morphology in a rat model of depression: the effects of physical activity.
abstract: Accumulating in vivo and ex vivo evidences show that humans suffering from depression have decreased hippocampal volume and altered spine density. Moreover, physical activity has an antidepressant effect in humans and in animal models, but to what extent physical activity can affect hippocampal volume and spine numbers in a model for depression is not known. In this study we analyzed whether physical activity affects hippocampal volume and spine density by analyzing a rodent genetic model of depression, Flinders Sensitive Line Rats (FSL), with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and ex vivo Golgi staining. We found that physical activity in the form of voluntary wheel running during 5 weeks increased hippocampal volume. Moreover, runners also had larger numbers of thin spines in the dentate gyrus. Our findings support that voluntary wheel running, which is antidepressive in FSL rats, is associated with increased hippocampal volume and spine numbers.
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Sierakowiak
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Mattsson
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Marta
authors: M
authors: Gómez-Galán
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Teresa
authors: T
authors: Feminía
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Lisette
authors: L
authors: Graae
authors: Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Sahar Nikkhou
authors: SN
authors: Aski
authors: Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Damberg
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Mia
authors: M
authors: Lindskog
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Brené
authors: AstraZeneca Translational Science Centre, Personalised Healthcare & Biomarkers, AstraZeneca R&D Innovative Medicines, Solna, Sweden and Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Science for Life Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
authors: Elin
authors: E
authors: Åberg
keywords: Animal model; MRI; dendrite morphology; flinders sensitive line rats; hippocampus; major depression; volume based morphometry.