Glucocorticoids are critical regulators of dendritic spine development and plasticity in vivo.

ABSTRACT: Glucocorticoids are a family of hormones that coordinate diverse physiological processes in responding to stress. Prolonged glucocorticoid exposure over weeks has been linked to dendritic atrophy and spine loss in fixed tissue studies of adult brains, but it is unclear how glucocorticoids may affect the dynamic processes of dendritic spine formation and elimination in vivo. Furthermore, relatively few studies have examined the effects of stress and glucocorticoids on spines during the postnatal and adolescent period, which is characterized by rapid synaptogenesis followed by protracted synaptic pruning. To determine whether and to what extent glucocorticoids regulate dendritic spine development and plasticity, we used transcranial two-photon microscopy to track the formation and eliminatio

SUBMITTER: Liston C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3179117 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature