Table 2.
Sex differences in hippocampal plasticity revealed after gonadectomy, stress, or learning
| Morphology | Procedure | Male vs female | Study | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG | Dendritic intersections of granule neurons in Long-Evans rats. | Single housing | M > F | Juraska et al. [76] |
| Size of dendritic trees of granule neurons in Long-Evans rats | Enriched environment | F > M | ||
| CA3 | The number, length and size of mossy fiber increases in castrated male Sprague-Dawley rats. Ovariectomy decreases dendritic spine density but no effect on other parameters. (sexes not directly compared) | Gonadectomy |
M < mossy fibers F < spines |
Mendell et al. [70] |
| Apical dendritic complexity decreases in male Sprague-Dawley rats, whereas basal dendritic complexity decreases in female Sprague-Dawley rats. | Chronic stress |
M < apical F < basal |
Galea et al. [73] | |
| CA1 | Apical dendritic spine density increases in male Sprague-Dawley rats but decreases in females, dependent on estrous cycle phase. | Acute stress |
M> F< |
Shors et al. [75] |
| Cell proliferation decreased in male, but not female Sprague-Dawley rats. | Acute stress |
M< F= |
Falconer and Galea [110] | |
| The number of proliferating stem cells decreases in male, but not female Wistar rats. | Repeated Stress |
M< F= |
Tzeng et al [114]; Hillerer et al. [118] | |
| After a stress incubation period, neurogenesis was reduced in females, but not males. |
F< M= |
Hillerer et al. [118] | ||
| Maternal postpartum corticosterone (preweaning) decreases neurogenesis in adult female offspring but not in male offspring (Sprague-Dawley rats). | Corticosterone | M > F | Gobinath et al. [125, 128] | |
| Early life stress causes by alterations in bedding or maternal deprivation, reduces neurogenesis in adult male but not adult female mice or rats. | Chronic stress | M < F | Naninck et al. [123] | |
| Stress during adolescence (restraint stress) reduces neurogenesis in adult female, but increases neurogenesis in male rats. | Chronic stress | M > F (Stress) | Barha et al. [127] | |
| New neuron survival increases males but not females. | MWM | M > F (Learning) | Chow et al. [129] | |
| Survival of new neurons increases in female, but not male, rats in the ventral dentate gyrus. | Trace eyeblink conditioning | M > F (Basal) | Dalla et al. [117] | |
| Male place-strategy learners show greater adult neurogenesis than female rats (dorsal). | RAM | M > F (Learning) | Yagi et al. [109] | |
DG dentate gyrus, MWM Morris water maze, RAM radial arm maze