title: Distinct dendritic morphology across the blades of the rodent dentate gyrus.
abstract: The dentate gyrus (DG) is a hippocampal region that has long been characterized as a critical mediator of enduring memory formation and retrieval. As such, there is a wealth of studies investigating this area. Most of these studies have either treated the DG as a homogeneous structure, or examined differences in neurons along the septal-temporal axis. Recent data, however, have indicated that a functional distinction exists between the suprapyramidal and infrapyramidal blades of the DG, with the former showing more robust responses during spatial tasks. To date, few anatomical studies have addressed this functional gradient in rats, and no study has done so in the mouse. To address this, we investigated dendritic morphology and spine density in hippocampal granule cells of rats and mice using the Golgi-Cox technique. We find that granule cells from the suprapyramidal blade of the DG contain greater dendritic material in the region receiving spatial information from the medial perforant path. This provides a potential anatomical substrate for the asymmetric response of the DG to spatial input. Synapse 70:277-282, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, 85004.
authors.forename: Amelia L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gallitano
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health & Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Satvat
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, 85004.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3C5.|McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85724.
authors.forename: Diano F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Marrone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
keywords: Golgi; Sholl; dendrites; hippocampus; spines