Cognitive training increases dendritic arborization in the dorsal hippocampal CA1 and CA3 neurons of female and male Long–Evans rats

Abstract

Experiences influence the development of the central nervous system. Cognitive training promotes changes in the structure of the brain, such as in its weight and number of cells, as well as ability to perform dendritic remodeling. The present study was designed to detect possible differences in the neuronal morphology of the dorsal hippocampus between female and male Long–Evans rats after cognitive training (CT). CT was promoted through three learning and memory tests: the Morris water maze, the Barnes circular maze, and Novel object recognition tests. Our data revealed no differences in learning or memory capacities between female and male rats; rats of the two sexes solved the behavioral test with equal efficiency. CT caused an increase in the basilar and apical dendritic arborization of CA1 neurons in male rats, whereas female rats that underwent CT presented only remodeling in the apical arbors of CA1 neurons. The basilar arbors of CA3 neurons of female rats showed an increase in arborization, but their apical arbors were not modified; the arbors of CA3 neurons of male rats submitted to CT were not modified. Total dendritic length was modified by CT in the apical arbors of CA1 neurons of female and male rats and in the basilar CA1 arbors of male rats. There was a significant increase in dendritic spine density in all arbors of CA1 and CA3 neurons of females and males subjected to CT. These results suggest that dendritic remodeling after CT is similar between female and male rats.

Sex-Dependent Wheel Running Effects on High Fat Diet Preference, Metabolic Outcomes, and Performance on the Barnes Maze in Rats

“…This aligns with rodent literature linking HF feeding to deficits in cognitive behaviors [15,42,53,54], which exercise can reverse [44,[48][49][50][51][52]. In contrast to reports that male and female rats performed similarly on the Barnes maze [123,124], we found that females had faster latencies than males to locate the escape box. Rather than enhanced learning, this effect could be a result of hormonal/estrous status or higher general locomotor activity exhibited by females [125,126].…”

Object recognition tasks in rats: Does sex matter?

“…Graphical flow diagram of the article selection process (n: number of articles in each phase). Fielding et al, 2012;Howland et al, 2012;Klug and van den Buuse, 2012;Mansouri et al, 2012;van Goethem et al, 2012;Zamberletti et al, 2012;Kolyaduke and Hughes, 2013;Marco et al, 2013;Hill et al, 2014;Abbott et al, 2016;Alteba et al, 2016;Anselmi et al, 2016;Barbie-Shoshani et al, 2016;Turgeon et al, 2016;Arfa-Fatollahkhani et al, 2017;Bengoetxea et al, 2017;Jordan and Andersen, 2018;Lian et al, 2018;Winther et al, 2018;Bruijnzeel et al, 2019;Klambatsen et al, 2019;Sadegzadeh et al, 2020), percentage of time-relative time exploring the novel object considering total amount of object exploration (Pereira et al, 2008;Bowman et al, 2009Bowman et al, , 2015van Goethem et al, 2012;Nelson et al, 2018;Ellis et al, 2020;Macht et al, 2020;Gillera et al, 2021;Peay et al, 2021), or absolute time-duration of novel object exploration (Paris and Frye, 2011;Reichel et al, 2012;Weston et al, 2014;Gonzales et al, 2015;Braun et al, 2018;Santollo et al, 2019;Villanueva Espino et al, 2020).…”

Melatonin alters neuronal architecture and increases cysteine‐rich protein 1 signaling in the male mouse hippocampus

“…Melatonin‐induced neuroplasticity in terms of increased dendritic formation is implicated as one of the mechanisms by which melatonin exerts its antidepressant effects (Drevets, Price, & Furey, 2008). Moreover, dendritic remodeling in the CA1 (Serita, Fukushima, & Kida, 2017; Villanueva Espino, Silva Gómez, & Bravo Durán, 2019) and DG (Dioli et al., 2019; Tronel et al., 2010) regions of the hippocampus have been correlated with improved cognitive abilities as well. This study also confirmed the functional benefits of increased structural neuroplasticity caused by exogenous melatonin administration.…”