Experience-dependent plasticity in early stations of sensory processing in mature brains: effects of environmental enrichment on dendrite measures in trigeminal nuclei
Entity
UAM. Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y NeurocienciaPublisher
Springer NatureDate
2021-11-22Citation
10.1007/s00429-021-02424-3
Brain Structure and Function 227.3 (2022): 865–879
ISSN
1863-2653 (print); 1863-2661(online)DOI
10.1007/s00429-021-02424-3Funded by
This study was supported by Grants BFU2012-39960 from Spain’s Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad/Fondo Europeo para el Desarrollo Regional (MINECO/FEDER), and “Ayudas a Proyectos de Investigación UFV2021-16” from Universidad Francisco de VitoriaProject
Gobierno de España. BFU2012-39960Editor's Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02424-3Subjects
Adult brain plasticity; Barrels; Dendritic trees; Dextran amine; Enriched environment; Morphometry; MedicinaRights
© The Author(s) 2021Abstract
Nervous systems respond with structural changes to environmental changes even in adulthood. In recent years, experience-dependent structural plasticity was shown not to be restricted to the cerebral cortex, as it also occurs at subcortical and even peripheral levels. We have previously shown that two populations of trigeminal nuclei neurons, trigeminothalamic barrelette neurons of the principal nucleus (Pr5), and intersubnuclear neurons in the caudal division of the spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5C) that project to Pr5 underwent morphometric and topological changes in their dendritic trees after a prolonged total or partial loss of afferent input from the vibrissae. Here we examined whether and what structural alterations could be elicited in the dendritic trees of the same cell populations in young adult rats after being exposed for 2 months to an enriched environment (EE), and how these changes evolved when animals were returned to standard housing for an additional 2 months. Neurons were retrogradely labeled with BDA delivered to, respectively, the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus or Pr5. Fully labeled cells were digitally reconstructed with Neurolucida and analyzed with NeuroExplorer. EE gave rise to increases in dendritic length, number of trees and branching nodes, spatial expansion of the trees, and dendritic spines, which were less pronounced in Sp5C than in Pr5 and differed between sides. In Pr5, these parameters returned, but only partially, to control values after EE withdrawal. These results underscore a ubiquity of experience-dependent changes that should not be overlooked when interpreting neuroplasticity and developing plasticity-based therapeutic strategies.
Files in this item
Size
2.868Mb
Format
PDF
Description
Artículo principal
Google Scholar:Martin, Yasmina B.
-
Negredo, Pilar
-
Avendaño, Carlos
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.