Decreased postnatal neurogenesis in the hippocampus combined with stress experience during adolescence is accompanied by an enhanced incidence of behavioral pathologies in adult mice

doi:10.1186/1756-6606-1-22

Molecular Brain

Volume 1

Viewing options:

Abstract
Full text
PDF (341KB)
Additional files

Associated material:

Related literature:

Articles citing this article
on Google Scholar
on PubMed Central
Other articles by authors
on Google Scholar

Hayashi F
Takashima N
Murayama A
Inokuchi K

on PubMed

Hayashi F
Takashima N
Murayama A
Inokuchi K
Related articles/pages
on Google

on Google Scholar

on PubMed

Tools:

Post to:

Research

Decreased postnatal neurogenesis in the hippocampus combined with stress experience during adolescence is accompanied by an enhanced incidence of behavioral pathologies in adult mice

Fumihiko Hayashi¹^,2 , Noriko Takashima¹^,2 , Akiko Murayama¹^,2 and Kaoru Inokuchi¹^,2^,3

¹Mitsubishi Kagaku Institute of Life Sciences, MITILS, 11 Minamiooya, Machida, Tokyo 194-8511, Japan

²Japan Science and Technology Agency, CREST, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan

³Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan

author email corresponding author email

Molecular Brain 2008, 1:22doi:10.1186/1756-6606-1-22


Published:	17 December 2008

Abstract

Background

Adolescence is a vulnerable period in that stress experienced during this time can affect the incidence of psychiatric disorders later, during adulthood. Neurogenesis is known to be involved in the postnatal development of the brain, but its role in determining an individual's biological vulnerability to the onset of psychiatric disorders has not been addressed.

Results

We examined the role of postnatal neurogenesis during adolescence, a period between 3 to 8 weeks of age in rodents. Mice were X-irradiated at 4 weeks of age, to inhibit postnatal neurogenesis in the sub-granule cell layer of the hippocampus. Electrical footshock stress (FSS) was administered at 8 weeks old, the time at which neurons being recruited to granule cell layer were those that had begun their differentiation at 4 weeks of age, during X-irradiation. X-irradiated mice subjected to FSS during adolescence exhibited decreased locomotor activity in the novel open field, and showed prepulse inhibition deficits in adulthood. X-irradiation or FSS alone exerted no effects on these behaviors.

Conclusion

These results suggest that mice with decreased postnatal neurogenesis during adolescence exhibit vulnerability to stress, and that persistence of this condition may result in decreased activity, and cognitive deficits in adulthood.