REPRODUCTIVE EXPERIENCE IMPROVES NEUROBEHAVIORAL CHANGES IN THE MOTHER'S BRAIN EXPOSED TO STRESS

AGUGGIA JULIETA P.; SUAREZ, M.; RIVAROLA, M.A.

Toronto

Congreso; Join the conversation #ICN2018; 2018

British Society for Neuroendocrinology

In mammals, behavioral and neurobiological changes occur throughout the female brainbecause of reproductive experience (RE). This functional modification remodels the neuralcircuits of the hippocampus and have a significant impact in cognition aspects. Changes inhippocampal neurogenesis and BDNF levels during RE and mother-pup separation, providepotential explanation for the changes in maternal cognitive performance during that period.Nulliparous (NP: none RE), Primiparous (PRI: one RE) and Multiparous (MULT: two RE) Wistarrats were use in the experiments. The PRI and MULT group were subjected to either animalfacility rearing (C) or daily 4,5h of pups separation (S) from postpartum day (PPD) 1 to 21.Spatial memory was evaluated in the Barnes Maze (PPD 21-26). Cell survival and proliferationwere evaluated by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry. Neurogenesis were alsoanalyzed in age-matched NP females. Levels of BDNF were quantified in CA1, CA3 area of thedentate gyrus (DG). The results revealed that MULT and PRI-C dams showed a betterperformance in spatial memory demonstrated by less errors in their search (p≤0.02), PRI-C andMULT-C spent more time in the goal (p