Conditional self-discrimination enhances dendritic spine number and dendritic length at prefrontal cortex and hippocampal neurons of rats.
We studied conditional self-discrimination (CSD) in rats and compared the neuronal cytoarchitecture of untrained animals and rats that were trained in self-discrimination. For this purpose, we used thirty 10-week-old male rats were randomized into three groups: one control group and two conditioning groups: a comparison group (associative learning) and an experimental group (self-discrimination). At the end of the conditioning process, the experimental group managed to discriminate their own state of thirst. After the conditioning process, dendritic morphological changes in the pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex and CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus were evaluated using Golgi-Cox stain method and then analyzed by the Sholl method. Differences were found in total dendritic length and spine density. Animals trained in self-discrimination showed an increase in the dendritic length and the number of dendritic spines of neurons of the prefrontal cortex and CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus. Our data suggest that conditional self-discrimination improves the connectivity of the prefrontal cortex and dorsal CA1, which has implications for memory and learning processes.
Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Las Américas Puebla, Cholula, Puebla, México.
Julio C
JC
Penagos-Corzo
Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Las Américas Puebla, Cholula, Puebla, México.
Andrea
A
Bonilla
Departamento de Fisiología, Anatomía y Biología Celular, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.
Antonio
A
Rodríguez-Moreno
Laboratorio de Neuropsiquiatría, Instituto de Fisiología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma De Puebla, Puebla, México.
Gonzalo
G
Flores
Departamento de Fisiología, Anatomía y Biología Celular, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.
José V
JV
Negrete-Díaz
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
CA1; conditional self-discrimination; dendritic length; dendritic spines; prefrontal cortex