Figure 7.

Morphological analysis revealed that dendrites of females had more branches than those of males. (A) The left bars represent the surface area (µm²) of the somas, while the right bars represent soma volume (µm³). Both measurements indicate that males (black bars, n=19–20 cells from 9 male rats) had larger somas than females (gray bars, n=32 cells from 12 female rats). (B) The left bars represent the number of nodes (i.e., branch points) on the dendrites, while the right bars represent the number of ends. Dendrites of females had more nodes and ends, indicative of increased branching. (C) The left bar shows the length of the average dendritic tree, while the right bars show the length of the longest dendritic tree. The dendritic trees of females were significantly longer than those of males. (D) The left bars display the length of the average segment, while the right bars display the length of the longest segment. Segment length was comparable between male and female dendrites. (E) The graph represents the number of branches broken down by branch order (i.e., 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th). Dendrites of females had significantly more branches, regardless of branch order, than males. (F) The graph represents the length of branches broken down by branch order. Dendrites of females were significantly longer than those of males, regardless of branch order. Data are represented as the mean (±s.e.m.). Asterisks indicate a significant sex difference (p<0.05).