Work

Adolescent female rats are more resistant than males to the effects of early stress on prefrontal cortex and impulsive behavior

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that adolescent Sprague-Dawley females may be more resistant than males to display impulsive behavior and lower prefrontal cortex thickness after mother-infant separation (MS). Starting at postnatal day 2 (P2), the MS group was separated 6 hr/day and the early handled (EH) group 15 min/day for 10 days, and another group was standard facility reared (SFR). Subjects were examined for novel open-field activity (P28), light-dark apparatus (P29), familiar open-field (P30) and frontal cortical thickness. This protocol resulted in impulsive behavior in MS rats relative to EH and SFR, but this effect was less pronounced in females than males. MS affected the two sexes differently in terms of decreased prefrontal cortex dorsoventral thickness, with this effect being significant in males but not females. Neuroanatomical and behavioral documentation that adolescent females are more resistant than males to ADHD-like effects of maternal separation have not been previously reported.

Source: Developmental Psychobiology

DOI: 10.1002/dev.20362

Authors: Jaclyn M. Spivey, Jason Shumake, Rene A. Colorado, Nelida Conejo‐Jimenez, Hector Gonzalez‐Pardo, F. Gonzalez‐Lima

Institutions: The University of Texas at Austin, Universidad de Oviedo

Language: English

Topic: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health