Premium
Tryptophan restriction causes long‐term plastic changes in corticofrontal pyramidal neurons
Author(s) -
GonzálezBurgos I.,
Del AngelMeza A.R.,
BarajasLópez G.,
FeriaVelasco A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(96)00094-9
Subject(s) - serotonergic , dendritic spine , neuroscience , serotonin , cortex (anatomy) , biology , acetylcholine , receptor , endocrinology , hippocampal formation , biochemistry
A Golgi study of third‐layer pyramidal neurons from the corticofrontal cortex of tryptophanrestricted rats was carried out. At 40 days of age, dendritic arborization from treated rats was less profuse than that seen in control rats, and enlargement of dendritic processes, as well as an increase of the number of dendritic spines, were observed in 60‐day‐old rats. These plastic responses could be mediated either by a decrease in serotonin, which acts on the serotoninergic receptors of pyramidal neurons, or through an indirect mechanism mediated by cortical interneurons, or by serotoninergic modulation of the activity of other cortical neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine. Also, it could represent compensatory mechanisms underlying behavioral performance in some paradigms related to several cognitive processes.