Research article summary (published 28 Aug 2006):

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

Full Abstract

Previous studies have shown that gonadectomy in adult male rats influences the acquisition and performance of spatial and other working memory tasks that depend in part on the medial prefrontal cortex and its dopamine innervation. Stimulated by previous findings that gonadectomy alters dopamine axon density in not only medial but several other prefrontal fields, the present studies asked whether gonadectomy might also broadly impact dopamine-dependent prefrontal functions, and whether these effects bore any relation to hormone modulation of mesoprefrontal dopamine afferents. Specifically, control, gonadectomized, and gonadectomized rats given estradiol or testosterone propionate were tested on a series of operant tasks that together measured medial prefrontal functions of spatial working memory, impulsivity and extradimensional set shifting and orbital prefrontal functions of reversal learning/perseveration and motivation. Afterwards, animals were sacrificed, their bulbospongiosus muscles were removed and weighed, their brains were processed for immunocytochemistry for the dopamine-synthesizing enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase, and axon densities were measured in orbital and medial prefrontal fields. Statistical evaluations of group effects on behavior and regression analyses comparing individual performance with muscle weights and axon density measures revealed androgen-reversible effects of gonadectomy on acquisition of spatial working memory and extradimensional set shifting that were correlated with bulbospongiosus weight and medial prefrontal dopamine axon density, estrogen-sensitive influences of gonadectomy on motivation and response withholding that were correlated with bulbospongiosus weight but not with dopamine innervation, and still other prefrontal functions, i.e., impulsivity, reversal learning, that were insensitive to gonadectomy and unrelated to gonadectomy-induced changes in muscle weight or prefrontal dopamine innervation.

Learn Faster Today      Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Kritzer, M F (MF); Brewer, A (A); Montalmant, F (F); Davenport, M (M); Robinson, J K (JK);

Affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5230, USA. mkritzer(-atsign-)notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Grants: NS41966 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Hormones and behavior (Horm Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Feb; vol 51 (issue 2) : pp 183-94

Dates: Created 2007/01/15; Completed 2007/03/08; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 16942768, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Horm Behav. 2007 Feb;51(2):181-2. (PMID: 17027008)

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Afferent Pathways - cytology; metabolism Analysis of Variance Animals Axons - metabolism Castration Conditioning, Operant - physiology Discrimination Learning - physiology Dopamine - physiology Estradiol - physiology Male Maze Learning - physiology

Maze Learning - physiology Prefrontal Cortex - cytology; enzymology; physiology Problem Solving - physiology Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley Set (Psychology) Sex Factors Space Perception - physiology Statistics, Nonparametric Testosterone - physiology Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase - metabolism

Associated Chemicals: Estradiol (50-28-2) ; Dopamine (51-61-6) ; Testosterone (58-22-0) ; Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase (EC 1.14.16.2)

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• Chronic stress increases the plasmalemmal distribution of the norepinephrine transporter and the coexpression of tyrosine hydroxylase in norepinephrine axons in the prefrontal cortex. 30 Jan 2006
• Glutamate synaptic inputs to ventral tegmental area neurons in the rat derive primarily from subcortical sources. 26 Mar 2007
• Copper (Cu2+) induces degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal system of rats. 30 Mar 2008
• Cholinergic axons in the rat ventral tegmental area synapse preferentially onto mesoaccumbens dopamine neurons. 18 Feb 2006
• Interferon-alpha reduces the density of monoaminergic axons in the rat brain. 20 Jan 2007
• Oxytocin injected into the ventral tegmental area induces penile erection and increases extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus of male rats. 31 Jul 2007
• Traumatic axonal injury in the perisomatic domain triggers ultrarapid secondary axotomy and Wallerian degeneration. 29 Jan 2006
• Expression of the dopamine transporter in rat and bullfrog retinas. 27 May 2006
• Neuroprotection in Parkinson models varies with toxin administration protocol. 29 Nov 2006
• Effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor deletion on ventral mesencephalic organotypic tissue cultures. 17 Dec 2006

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.