Exposure to prenatal stress (PS) increases the risk of developing neurobehavioral disturbances later in life. Previous work has shown that exercise can exert beneficial effects on brain damage; however, it is unknown whether voluntary wheel running (VWR) can ameliorate the neurobehavioral impairments induced by PS in adolescent offspring. Pregnant CF-1 mice were randomly assigned to control (n=5) or stressed (n=5) groups. Pregnant dams were subjected to restraint stress between gestational days 14 and 21 (G14-21), whereas controls remained undisturbed in their home cages. On postnatal day 21 (P21), male pups were randomly assigned to the following experimental groups: control (n=5), stressed (n=5), and stressed mice+daily submitted to VWR (n=4). At P52, all groups were behaviorally evaluated in the Morris water maze. Animals were then sacrificed, and Golgi-impregnated granule cells were morphometrically analyzed. The results indicate that PS produced significant behavioral and neuronal impairments in adolescent offspring and that VWR significantly offset these deleterious effects.
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