Figure 3.

Kainate‐induced anxiety is associated with the upregulation of dendritic spine head and the downregulation of spine number in YFP‐labeled pyramidal neurons of prelimbic cortices. (A) shows the spine head appears to be enlarged and the spine number is reduced in kainate‐induced anxiety mice versus controls. (B) illustrates cumulative changes in spine number versus spine size in kainate‐induced anxiety mice (red symbols) versus controls (blues). A shift of such cumulative curves toward right in kainate‐induced anxiety mice indicates the rise of their spine heads. (C) shows the averaged spine width in controls (blue bar; n = 1538 spines) and kainate‐induced anxiety mice (red bar, n = 1345, *P < 0.05), respectively. (D) shows spine density (spines per micrometer) in the controls (blue bar) and in kainate‐induced anxiety (red bar), respectively. The upregulation of the individual excitatory synapses is associated with kainate‐induced anxiety. The upregulation of spine size and the downregulation of spine number indicate the homeostatic change in excitatory synapses.