Hippocampus

• Methods:

  • adult female rats: intact, OVX + oil, OVX + estrogen, OVX + estrogen + progesterone
  • euthanized animals and stained brain tissue with Golgi technique--silver stain that “fills” the dendrites, cell bodies and axons of specific neurons
  • measured the number of spines per length of apical or basilar dendrites of neurons in CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus in female rats

• Results:

  • ovariectomy produced a significant decrease in spine density in apical dendrites of neurons within CA1 region of hippocampus
  • administration of estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone produced a significant increase in spine density in the apical dendrites of CA1 region of hippocampus
  • the effect was specific to CA1 region of hippocampus; no change occurred in CA3 region or in dentate gyrus
  • the effect was rapid occurring after only two days of estrogen and 5 hours of progesterone

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