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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 15, 2003, 23(12):5329-5336

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Separation-Induced Receptor Changes in the Hippocampus and Amygdala of Octodon degus: Influence of Maternal Vocalizations

Irina Ziabreva,¹ Gerd Poeggel,² Reinhild Schnabel,¹ and Katharina Braun¹

¹Department of Zoology/Developmental Neurobiology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany, and ²University of Leipzig, Zoological Institute, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

Relatively little is known about the basic mechanisms that play a role in the vulnerability of the developing brain toward adverse environmental influences. Our study in the South American rodent Octodon degus revealed that repeated brief separation from the parents and exposure to an unfamiliar environment induces in the hippocampal formation of male and female pups an upregulation of D₁ and 5-HT1_A receptor density in the stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum moleculare of the CA1 region. In the CA3 region, only the 5-HT1_A receptors were upregulated; no changes were observed for D₁ receptors in this region. GABA_A receptor density in the hippocampus and amygdala was downregulated (nonsignificant trend) after parental separation.

The acoustic presence of the mother during parental separation suppressed the D₁ and 5-HT1_A receptor upregulation in some regions of the hippocampus; no such suppressing influence was observed for the GABA_A receptors. In the basomedial amygdala, the maternal calls enhanced the separation-induced 5-HT1_A receptor upregulation in the male pups, whereas in the female pups the separation-induced receptor densities were not only suppressed by the maternal call but further downregulated, compared with the control group. These results demonstrate that early adverse emotional experience alters aminergic function within the hippocampus and amygdala and that the mother's voice, a powerful emotional signal, can modulate these effects in the developing limbic system.

Key words: hippocampus; amygdala; stress; parental separation; D₁ receptors; 5HT1_A receptors; GABA_A receptors; quantitative autoradiography; limbic system

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Received Dec. 23, 2002; revised Mar. 14, 2003; accepted Mar. 25, 2003.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. M. Goodfellow, M. Benekareddy, V. A. Vaidya, and E. K. Lambe Layer II/III of the Prefrontal Cortex: Inhibition by the Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptor in Development and Stress J. Neurosci., August 12, 2009; 29(32): 10094 - 10103. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Poeggel, C. Helmeke, A. Abraham, T. Schwabe, P. Friedrich, and K. Braun Juvenile emotional experience alters synaptic composition in the rodent cortex, hippocampus, and lateral amygdala PNAS, December 23, 2003; 100(26): 16137 - 16142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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