Influences of age and pubertal status on number and intensity of perineuronal nets in the rat medial prefrontal cortex
- PDF / 1,612,203 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 1 Downloads / 203 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Influences of age and pubertal status on number and intensity of perineuronal nets in the rat medial prefrontal cortex Carly M. Drzewiecki1 · Jari Willing2,3 · Janice M. Juraska1,2 Received: 9 December 2019 / Accepted: 29 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a late developing region of the cortex, and its protracted maturation during adolescence may confer a period of plasticity. Closure of critical, or sensitive, periods in sensory cortices coincides with perineuronal net (PNN) expression, leading to enhanced inhibitory function and synaptic stabilization. PNN density has been found to increase across adolescence in the male rat medial PFC (mPFC). Here, we examined both male and female rats at four time points spanning adolescent development to stereologically quantify the number and intensity of PNNs in the mPFC. Additionally, because puberty coincides with broad behavioral and neuroanatomical changes, we collected tissue from age-matched preand post-pubertal siblings within a litter. Results indicate that both males and females show an increase in the total number and intensity of mPFC PNNs between postnatal day (P) 30 and P60. As we have previously found, white matter under the mPFC also increased at the same time. Male puberty did not affect PNNs, while female pubertal onset led to an abrupt decrease in the total number of PNNs that persisted through mid-adolescence before increasing at P60. Despite the change in PNN number, the intensity of female PNNs was not affected by puberty. Thus, though males and females show increases in mPFC PNNs during adolescence, the pubertal decrease in the number of PNNs in female rats may indicate a difference in the pattern of maximal plasticity between the sexes during adolescence. Keywords Adolescent · PNN · White matter · Inhibition · Stereology · Estrogen
Introduction Sensitive, or critical, periods are windows of heightened plasticity when the developing brain is especially responsive to sensory stimuli (Hensch 2005). Neuronal circuits can be permanently shaped by experience during these sensitive windows, and sensory deprivation during this time can have long-lasting implications for brain structure and function. Critical periods for cortical development have been well established in multiple species across several brain regions, * Janice M. Juraska [email protected] 1
Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
2
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 E Daniel St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
3
Present Address: Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, 822 E Merry Ave, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
including the visual and somatosensory cortices (Fox 1992; Hensch 2004; Wiesel and Hubel 1970). In the visual cortex, it begins with the appearance of GABAergic parvalbumin (PV) interneurons, which enhance inhibitory signaling and allow for increased plasticity (Hensch
Data Loading...
