title: Tactile stimulation effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and spatial learning and memory in prenatally stressed rats.
abstract: Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus is increased by spatial learning and postnatal stimulation. Conversely, prenatal stress (PS) produces a decrease in the proliferation of hippocampal granular cells. This work evaluated the effect of postnatal tactile stimulation (PTS), when applied from birth to adulthood, on cognitive performance and hippocampal neurogenesis (survival and differentiation) in PS female and male rats. The response of the adrenal axis to training in the Morris water maze (MWM) was also analyzed. PS was provided during gestational days 15 through 21. Hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive performance in the MWM were assessed at an age of three months. Results showed that escape latencies of both female and male PS rats were longer compared to those of their controls (CON). DG cell survival increased in the PS female rats. Corticosterone concentrations were significantly higher in the male and female PS rats after MWM training. PTS improved escape latencies and increased the number of new neurons in the DG of PS animals, and their corticosterone concentrations were similar to those in CON. In CON, PTS diminished DG cell survival but increased differentiation and reduces latency in the MWM. These results show that long-term PTS in PS animals might prevent learning deficits in adults through increase in the number of DG new cells and decrease of the reactivity of the adrenal axis to MWM training.
authors.affiliation: Posgrado en Biología Experimental, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, Mexico.
authors.forename: Guerrero Aguilera María
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: de Los Angeles
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurofisiología, INNN "Manuel Velasco Suárez", Ciudad de México, Mexico.
authors.forename: Rubio Osornio María
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Del Carmen
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neurobiología UNAM campus Juriquilla, Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.
authors.forename: Portillo Martínez
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Wendy
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México, Mexico. Electronic address: rems@xanum.uam.mx.
authors.forename: Retana-Márquez
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Socorro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D065853:Spatial Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014110:Touch
chemical_list: D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: Corticosterone; Neurogenesis; Prenatal stress; Spatial learning; Tactile stimulation