Steroid Hormone Interaction with Dendritic Spines: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disease.

Dendritic spines, key sites for neural plasticity, are influenced by gonadal steroids. In this chapter, we review the effects of gonadal steroids on dendritic spine density in areas important to cognitive function, the hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Most of these animal model studies investigated the effects of estrogen in females, but we also include more recent data on androgen effects in both males and females.

Sex differences in cognition following variations in endocrine status.

Spatial memory, mediated primarily by the hippocampus, is responsible for orientation in space and retrieval of information regarding location of objects and places in an animal's environment. Since the hippocampus is dense with steroid hormone receptors and is capable of robust neuroplasticity, it is not surprising that changes in spatial memory performance occur following a variety of endocrine alterations. Here, we review cognitive changes in both spatial and nonspatial memory tasks following manipulations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axes and after exposure to endocrine disruptors in rodents.

Androgens Enhance Recognition Memory and Dendritic Spine Density in the Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex of Ovariectomized Female Rats.

Estrogen replacement has been repeatedly shown to enhance memory and increase dendritic spine density in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. Given the potential deleterious effects of chronic estrogen administration, the present study assessed cognitive function using recognition memory tasks and measured dendritic spine density in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex after subchronic androgen replacement to adult OVX female rats. All androgens enhanced recognition memory in OVX rats, but object placement (OP) and object recognition (OR) results differed.

Voluntary oral methamphetamine increases memory deficits and contextual sensitization during abstinence associated with decreased PKMζ and increased κOR in the hippocampus of female mice.

Background: Female populations exhibit vulnerabilities to psychostimulant addiction, as well as cognitive dysfunction following bouts of abuse.

Aims: The goal for this study was to advance our understanding of the mechanisms that produce sex disparities in drug addiction.

Methods: We used an animal model for voluntary oral methamphetamine administration (VOMA) and focused on male and female mice that consumed 7.

A potential role for dendritic spines in bisphenol-A induced memory impairments during adolescence and adulthood.

Developmental exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical, alters many behaviors and neural parameters in rodents and non-human-primates. The effects of BPA are mediated via gonadal hormone, primarily, estrogen receptors, and are not limited to the perinatal period since recent studies show impairments further into development. The studies described in this chapter address the effects of BPA administration during early adolescence on memory and dendritic spine density in intact male and female rats as well as ovariectomized (OVX) rats in late adolescence and show that some of these adolescent induced changes endure into adulthood.