Sex, hormones and neurogenesis in the hippocampus: hormonal modulation of neurogenesis and potential functional implications.

The hippocampus is an area of the brain that undergoes dramatic plasticity in response to experience and hormone exposure. The hippocampus retains the ability to produce new neurones in most mammalian species and is a structure that is targeted in a number of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases, many of which are influenced by both sex and sex hormone exposure. Intriguingly, gonadal and adrenal hormones affect the structure and function of the hippocampus differently in males and females. Adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus is regulated by both gonadal and adrenal hormones in a sex- and experience-dependent way. Sex differences in the effects of steroid hormones to modulate hippocampal plasticity should not be completely unexpected because the physiology of males and females is different, with the most notable difference being that females gestate and nurse the offspring. Furthermore, reproductive experience (i.e. pregnancy and mothering) results in permanent changes to the maternal brain, including the hippocampus. This review outlines the ability of gonadal and stress hormones to modulate multiple aspects of neurogenesis (cell proliferation and cell survival) in both male and female rodents. The function of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus is linked to spatial memory and depression, and the present review provides early evidence of the functional links between the hormonal modulation of neurogenesis that may contribute to the regulation of cognition and stress.

Androgens increase survival of adult-born neurons in the dentate gyrus by an androgen receptor-dependent mechanism in male rats.

Gonadal steroids are potent regulators of adult neurogenesis. We previously reported that androgens, such as testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), but not estradiol, increased the survival of new neurons in the dentate gyrus of the male rat. These results suggest androgens regulate hippocampal neurogenesis via the androgen receptor (AR). To test this supposition, we examined the role of ARs in hippocampal neurogenesis using 2 different approaches. In experiment 1, we examined neurogenesis in male rats insensitive to androgens due to a naturally occurring mutation in the gene encoding the AR (termed testicular feminization mutation) compared with wild-type males. In experiment 2, we injected the AR antagonist, flutamide, into castrated male rats and compared neurogenesis levels in the dentate gyrus of DHT and oil-treated controls. In experiment 1, chronic T increased hippocampal neurogenesis in wild-type males but not in androgen-insensitive testicular feminization mutation males. In experiment 2, DHT increased hippocampal neurogenesis via cell survival, an effect that was blocked by concurrent treatment with flutamide. DHT, however, did not affect cell proliferation. Interestingly, cells expressing doublecortin, a marker of immature neurons, did not colabel with ARs in the dentate gyrus, but ARs were robustly expressed in other regions of the hippocampus. Together these studies provide complementary evidence that androgens regulate adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus via the AR but at a site other than the dentate gyrus. Understanding where in the brain androgens act to increase the survival of new neurons in the adult brain may have implications for neurodegenerative disorders.

Upregulation of CB1 receptor binding in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex promotes proactive stress-coping strategies following chronic stress exposure.

Accumulating evidence has revealed that dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system could contribute to the development of major depression. Studies carried out post-mortem in depressed suicide victims have revealed increased CB(1) receptor binding site density in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Accordingly, exposure of rodents to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) results in phenotypic changes that mirror those of human depression, including increased CB(1) receptor binding site density in the PFC. Our goal in these studies was to examine the effects of CUS on the density of CB(1) receptor binding sites in the rodent medial PFC and to explore the role of this alteration in the behavioral changes invoked by CUS. Rodents exposed to CUS exhibited increased CB(1) receptor maximal binding site density (B(max)) within the ventromedial PFC, but not the dorsomedial PFC. To determine whether this change in the ventromedial PFC is an adaptive response, or alternatively, a consequence of chronic stress that contributes to the adoption of passive coping, we examined whether local CB(1) receptor blockade within the ventromedial PFC following CUS would significantly alter behaviors in the forced swim test (FST). CUS exposure significantly increased passive coping in the FST, and this was further augmented by discrete ventromedial PFC microinfusions of the CB(1) receptor antagonist AM251 prior to swim stress. Moreover, local CB(1) receptor blockade reduced active coping responses in CUS-exposed rats. These findings suggest that the increase in CB(1) receptor B(max) observed in the ventromedial PFC of rodents exposed to CUS maintains proactive coping strategies following chronic stress exposure.