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Hippocampal Anatomy and Water Maze Performance Are Affected by Neonatal Cryoanesthesia in Rats of Both Sexes

https://doi.org/10.1006/hbeh.2000.1572Get rights and content

Abstract

There is recent evidence that cryoanesthesia, commonly used during neonatal hormone manipulations (e.g., gonadectomy), has deleterious effects on the morphology of the splenium of the corpus callosum and primary visual cortex in adult rats of both sexes. (Nuñez and Juraska, 1998; Nuñez, Kim, and Juraska, 1998). In the present study, the effect of neonatal cryoanesthesia on the morphology of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus and on performance in the Morris water maze was investigated. Cold exposure for as brief as 30 min (5°C) on Postnatal Day 1 resulted in a significant decrease in the volume of the hippocampus and in brain weight of adults. Performance on the water maze was also impaired in cold-exposed animals. This study indicates that not only morphology but also behavioral performance in adulthood are affected by neonatal cryoanesthesia.

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Cited by (28)

  • The effect of brief neonatal cryoanesthesia on physical development and adult cognitive function in mice

    2014, Behavioural Brain Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    The reported effects of neonatal cryoanesthesia on the performance in water maze and brain morphology of adult Long-Evans rats [35,36,47] are interesting and should be investigated further in both species to elucidate possible differences between the species, the timing and duration of the procedure, and the possible modifications of the effects by environmental enrichments or socialization. The reported significant decreases in the volume of visual cortex [47], in the weight of hippocampus [35], as well as in cortical thickness and dendritic arborization [36] are likely not benign and will be reflected in compromised behavioral and specifically, cognitive propensities of the animals. These observed effects might be idiosyncratic for rats or even limited only to Long-Evans strain, or they can be the result of relatively impoverished housing conditions in animals facilities or unusually severe, non-biological hypothermia conditions employed in experimental studies.

  • Male rats with the testicular feminization mutation of the androgen receptor display elevated anxiety-related behavior and corticosterone response to mild stress

    2011, Hormones and Behavior
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    It is possible that exposure to a surgical procedure (gonadectomy) two weeks prior to behavior testing and/or neonatal anesthesia may have affected anxiety-related behaviors in such a way as to eliminate differences between these groups. Neonatal anesthesia has previously been demonstrated to affect rat hippocampal morphology and cognitive behavior (Rothstein et al., 2008; Nuñez et al., 2000). Tfm males, like wt males, were also consistently less active than wt females as assessed by the number of rearings and grid crossings in the open field and novel object tests, consistent with reports of sex differences in motor activity (e.g., ambulation and rearing), with females more active (Archer, 1975; Masur et al., 1980; Slob et al., 1981; Seliger, 1977; Lucion et al., 1996).

  • Response to neonatal anesthesia: Effect of sex on anatomical and behavioral outcome

    2008, Neuroscience
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    The doses of phenobarbital and isoflurane were chosen based on previous reports of their efficacy as appropriate anesthetic agents in rats younger than PN3 (Yi and Barr, 1996; Bittigau et al., 2002). The duration of isoflurane exposure was chosen based on previous research by the experimenter on the average amount of time required to perform gonadectomies on rats on PN1 (Nuñez et al., 1998, 2000). This is significantly shorter than the 45–120 min time period of anesthesia documented by other laboratories required to perform surgeries in neonatal rodents (Park et al., 1992; Yi and Barr, 1996; Karuri et al., 1998) and human infants (Messmer et al., 1976; Oates et al., 1995).

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To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Champaign–Urbana, 603 E. Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Fax: (217) 244-5876. E-mail: [email protected].

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