Skip Navigation


Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on November 2, 2006
Cerebral Cortex 2007 17(9):1998-2006; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhl108
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/9/1998    most recent
bhl108v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cerqueira, J. J.
Right arrow Articles by Sousa, N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cerqueira, J. J.
Right arrow Articles by Sousa, N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Specific Configuration of Dendritic Degeneration in Pyramidal Neurons of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Induced by Differing Corticosteroid Regimens

João J. Cerqueira1, Ricardo Taipa1, Harry B. M. Uylings2, Osborne F. X. Almeida3 and Nuno Sousa1

1 Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (Instituto de Investigação em ciências da vida e da saúde), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal, 2 Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 3 Neuroadaptations Group, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 2-10, 80804 Munich, Germany

Address correspondence to Nuno Sousa, Escola de Ciências da Saúde, CP II Piso 3, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Email: njcsousa{at}ecsaude.uminho.pt.

We previously demonstrated that hypercorticalism induces pronounced volumetric reductions in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and that these structural changes correlate with deficits in executive function. By applying 3-dimensional analysis of Golgi-Cox–stained material, we now demonstrate that corticosteroids can exert differential effects on dendritic arborizations of pyramidal neurons in lamina II/III of the mPFC. Treatment with the glucocorticoid receptor–selective agonist dexamethasone and with the natural adrenosteroid, corticosterone (CORT), results in significant reductions in the total length of apical dendrites in the pyramidal neurons in lamina II/III of the anterior cingulate/prelimbic and infralimbic cortices. Interestingly, although these treatments do not affect the number of dendritic branches, they are associated with impoverished arborizations in their distal portions and, in CORT-treated animals, with increased branching in the middle portions of the apical dendritic tree. Deprivation of corticosteroids by adrenalectomy leads to decreases in total apical dendritic length and spine number, but in this case, dendritic impoverishment was restricted to the middle/proximal segments of the dendritic trees. None of the treatments influenced the architecture of the basal dendrites. These results add to our knowledge of the morphological substrates through which corticosteroids may disrupt mPFC-dependent behaviors.

Key Words: adrenalectomy • cingulate cortex • corticosteroid • dendritic morphology • stress


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R.-J. Liu and G. K. Aghajanian
Stress blunts serotonin- and hypocretin-evoked EPSCs in prefrontal cortex: Role of corticosterone-mediated apical dendritic atrophy
PNAS, January 8, 2008; 105(1): 359 - 364.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.