Effects of gonadectomy on performance in operant tasks measuring prefrontal cortical function in adult male rats

Kritzer, Mary F.; Brewer, Ariel; Montalmant, F.; Davenport, M.; Robinson, John K.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.07.005

Cited by 89 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Specifically, long-term gonadectomy in adult male rats was found to significantly and selectively decrease the initial discrimination index in a spontaneous object recognition task at a 1.5 hour delay. Like previously observed effects of gonadectomy on other prefrontal cortical functions (Kritzer et al, 2007), the especially apparent deficits that marked the first half of testing of the 1.5 hour NOR task were attenuated by supplementing GDX animals with testosterone propionate but not estradiol and were significantly correlated with the somatic measure of circulating androgens, the weights of the bulbospongiosus muscle group (measured post-mortem within 2 days of the completion of behavioral testing). That hormone effects were greatest during the first half of test trials also aligns with previous data showing that in intact animals it is primarily during the initial part of the recognition phase of the test trials that a novel object is preferentially explored (Dix and Aggleton, 1999;Moses et al, 2005); after this initial exploration, novel objects rapidly become familiar, and control DI values decline, leaving in essence no room for deficits on novelty recognition to be resolved.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Recent studies in adult male rats have identified modulatory roles for gonadal steroids on working memory and other types of cognitive tasks that are known to be sensitive to lesions of the medial (Ceccarelli et al, 2001;Daniel et al, 2003;Kritzer et al, 2007;Turvin et al, 2007) and orbital (Kheramin et al, 2003;Kritzer et al, 2007) divisions of the prefrontal cortices in rats. The studies presented here now demonstrate gonadal hormone sensitivity for a spontaneous NOR task that is sensitive in part to lesions of the third major subdivision of the rat PFC -the perirhinal prefrontal cortices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the hormone-replaced groups, slow-release pellets that release approximately 3-4 ng of TP per milliliter of blood per day or 25 pg of E per milliliter of blood per day (Innovative Research of America, Sarasota, FL) were then inserted within the tunica. These pellets have been used in previous investigations in this laboratory and have been shown to produce circulating levels of gonadal hormones in GDX rats that fall within physiological ranges (Adler et al, 1999;Kritzer et al, 2007). Incisions were closed using surgical staples.…”

Section: B Surgical Procedures and Hormone Replacementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, given evidence for effects of gonadectomy and/or hormone replacement in adult male rats on measures of motivation including break point in a water-but not food-rewarded progressive reward ratio task (Kritzer et al, 2007;van Hest et al, 1988), acquisition of conditioned place preference, and in intracerebroventricular hormone self-administration (Wood, 2004), it is important that the NOR paradigm unlike other perirhinal tasks relies on spontaneous rather than rewarded activity. Further, because some of the effects of GDX on working memory paradigms include task acquisition (Kritzer et al, 2007), that the NOR task requires no training allowed hormone effects on mnemonic components of the task to be demonstrated in relative isolation from learning. Nonetheless, there were also balancing concerns about using the NOR paradigm.…”

Section: Behavioral Impact Of Gdx On the Nor Taskmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies in animal models also suggest an importance of gonadal steroid stimulation for prefrontal cortical function in males. For example, gonadectomy in adult male rats has been shown to significantly impair performance in maze and operant tests of spatial (Daniel et al, 2003;Kritzer et al, 2007;Kritzer et al, 2001) and non-spatial (Ceccarelli et al, 2001) working memory and behavioral flexibility (Kritzer et al, 2007), which are processes that are dependent on the medial prefrontal cortices (Dias and Aggleton, 2000;Kesner et al, 1996;Lacroix et al, 2002;Schwabe et al, 2004;Taylor et al, 2003), as well as performance on a progressive reward ratio task (Kritzer et al, 2007) which is sensitive to lesions of the orbital prefrontal cortices (Kheramin et al, 2005). In this study, analyses of hormone sensitivity were extended to a task sensitive in part to lesions of the perirhinal prefrontal cortices, a spontaneous novel object recognition (NOR) task, to test the hypothesis that functions mediated by this third major division of the prefrontal cortex may also be sensitive to long-term gonadectomy and hormone replacement in adult male subjects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Effects of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on a spontaneous novel object recognition task in adult male rats

Aubele

Kaufman²,

Montalmant

et al. 2008

Hormones and Behavior

Self Cite

101

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Recent studies in adult male rats have shown that gonadal hormones influence performance on certain working memory and other types of cognitive tasks that are sensitive to lesions of the medial and/or orbital prefrontal cortices. This study asked whether gonadal hormone modulation of prefrontal cortical function in males also extends to the perirhinal division of the rat prefrontal cortex. Specifically, sham-operated control, gonadectomized, and gonadectomized rats supplemented with testosterone propionate or estradiol were tested on a spontaneous novel object recognition task, a paradigm where performance has been shown to be impaired by perirhinal cortical lesions. Using analyses of variance, regression analyses and post-hoc testing to evaluate group differences, it was found that during both the sample and test trials of the task all four groups spent similar absolute and proportional amounts of time ambulating, rearing, stationary, and exploring the two objects present. All groups also explored each of the two identical objects present during sample trials equally. However, during the test trials, only the control and gonadectomized rats given testosterone showed the expected increase in exploration of the novel objects presented, whereas the gonadectomized and gonadectomized, estradiol-supplemental groups continued to explore the novel and familiar objects equally. That regression analyses also identified significant correlations between low bulbospongiosus muscle weight and impaired novel vs. familiar object discrimination further indicates that gonadectomy in adult male rats adversely affects spontaneous novel object recognition in an androgen-sensitive, estrogen-insensitive manner.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Surgical Procedures and Hormone Replacementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Behavioral Impact Of Gdx On the Nor Taskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Effects of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on a spontaneous novel object recognition task in adult male rats

Aubele

Kaufman²,

Montalmant

et al. 2008

Hormones and Behavior

Self Cite

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Sex Hormones and Cognition: Neuroendocrine Influences on Memory and Learning

Hamson

Roes

Galea

2016

Comprehensive Physiology

165

110

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Sex differences in neurological disease exist in incidence, severity, progression, and symptoms and may ultimately influence treatment. Cognitive disturbances are frequent in neuropsychiatric disease with men showing greater cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, but women showing more severe dementia and cognitive decline with Alzheimer's disease. Although there are no overall differences in intelligence between the sexes, men, and women demonstrate slight but consistent differences in a number of cognitive domains. These include a male advantage, on average, in some types of spatial abilities and a female advantage on some measures of verbal fluency and memory. Sex differences in traits or behaviors generally indicate the involvement of sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. We review the literature on whether adult levels of testosterone and estradiol influence spatial ability in both males and females from rodent models to humans. We also include information on estrogens and their ability to modulate verbal memory in men and women. Estrone and progestins are common components of hormone therapies, and we also review the existing literature concerning their effects on cognition. We also review the sex differences in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex as they relate to cognitive performance in both rodents and humans. There has been greater recognition in the scientific literature that it is important to study both sexes and also to analyze study findings with sex as a variable. Only by examining these sex differences can we progress to finding treatments that will improve the cognitive health of both men and women. © 2016 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 6:1295-1337, 2016.

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Innervation of the medial prefrontal cortex by tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive fibers during adolescence in male and female rats

Willing

Cortes

Brodsky

et al. 2017

Developmental Psychobiology

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Adolescence is associated with continued maturation of the cerebral cortex, particularly the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We have previously documented pruning in the number of neurons, dendrites and synapses in the rat mPFC from preadolescence to adulthood, with the period of pubertal onset being particularly important. We hypothesized that dopaminergic innervation of this region, critical for executive functions, would also be influenced by pubertal onset. Here, we measured changes in the volume of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive axons in all layers of the male and female mPFC from preadolescence to adulthood (postnatal day (P) 25, 35, 45, 60 and 90) as a marker of dopaminergic innervation. Assessing both total fiber volume and length, TH fibers were quantified by multiplying the mPFC volume by fiber density. While there were subtle layer-specific changes, TH fiber volume and length increased between P25 and P90 in both males and females. Contrary to our hypothesis, a role for pubertal onset in TH innervation of this region was not discernable. In summary, axons immunoreactive for TH increase with similar trajectories in the mPFC of male and female rats from pre-puberty to young adulthood.

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Effects of gonadectomy on performance in operant tasks measuring prefrontal cortical function in adult male rats

Cited by 89 publications

References 54 publications

Effects of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on a spontaneous novel object recognition task in adult male rats

Effects of gonadectomy and hormone replacement on a spontaneous novel object recognition task in adult male rats

Sex Hormones and Cognition: Neuroendocrine Influences on Memory and Learning

Innervation of the medial prefrontal cortex by tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive fibers during adolescence in male and female rats

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