Maternal Care and Hippocampal Plasticity: Evidence for Experience-Dependent Structural Plasticity, Altered Synaptic Functioning, and Differential Responsiveness to Glucocorticoids and Stress

@article{Champagne2008MaternalCA,
  title={Maternal Care and Hippocampal Plasticity: Evidence for Experience-Dependent Structural Plasticity, Altered Synaptic Functioning, and Differential Responsiveness to Glucocorticoids and Stress},
  author={Danielle L. Champagne and Rosemary C. Bagot and Felisa N. van Hasselt and Ger J. A. Ramakers and Michael J. Meaney and Edo Ronald de Kloet and Marian Jo{\"e}ls and Harm J. Krugers},
  journal={The Journal of Neuroscience},
  year={2008},
  volume={28},
  pages={6037 - 6045}
}
Maternal licking and grooming (LG) in infancy influences stress responsiveness and cognitive performance in the offspring. We examined the effects of variation in the frequency of pup LG on morphological, electrophysiological, and behavioral aspects of hippocampal synaptic plasticity under basal and stress-like conditions. We found shorter dendritic branch length and lower spine density in CA1 cells from the adult offspring of low compared with high LG offspring. We also observed dramatic… 
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