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. 2019 Apr 13;10:100165. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2019.100165

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Total Dendritic Spine Densities. Dendritic spines were counted in 40 μm segments midway down the basal dendrites and at the distal termination, and in 50 μm segments midway and at the distal termination for apical dendrites and averaged to create a final spines/μm density for adolescent and adult males and females. (* = p < 0.05, post-hoc 3-way interaction; @ = p < 0.05, post-hoc 2-way interaction; ‡ = p < 0.05, age effect; # = p < 0.05, sex effect; † = p < 0.05, stress effect). A. Layer II/III.1. Basal Dendrites. Females had greater spine density than males regardless of age or stress. There is an interaction of Age*Sex*Stress such that stressed adolescent females have spine density greater than stressed adolescent males or stressed female adults. The group sizes were: n = 9 cells/4 rats for male adult controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed male adults, 9 cells/4 rats for male adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed male adolescents, 7 cells/4 rats for female adult controls, 14 cells/4 rats for stressed female adults, 11 cells/4 rats for female adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed female adolescents. 2. Apical Dendrites. There was no effect on apical dendritic spine density. The group sizes were: n = 9 cells/4 rats for male adult controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed male adults, 9 cells/4 rats for male adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed male adolescents, 7 cells/4 rats for female adult controls, 14 cells/4 rats for stressed female adults, 11 cells/4 rats for female adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed female adolescents]. B. Layer V.1. Basal Dendrites. Adult males had lower spine density than adult females or adolescent males regardless of stress. Adult male controls had lower spine density than adult female controls. Stress reduced dendritic spine density overall regardless of sex or age. Group sizes were: n = 10 cells/4 rats for male adult controls, 9 cells/4 rats for male adult defeats, 11 cells/4 rats for male adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for male adolescent defeats, 9 cells/4 rats for female adult controls, 10 cells/4 rats for female adult defeats, 10 cells/4 rats for female adolescent controls, 11 cells/4 rats for female adolescent defeats. 2. Apical Dendrites. Stress decreased spine density overall regardless of age or sex. This was driven by adult females and adolescent males. Adult female controls had greater spine density than adolescent female controls. Group sizes were: n = 10 cells/4 rats for male adult controls, 9 cells/4 rats for stressed male adults, 11 cells/4 rats for male adolescent controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed male adolescents, 9 cells/4 rats for female adult controls, 10 cells/4 rats for stressed female adults, 10 cells/4 rats for female adolescent controls, 11 cells/4 rats for stressed female adolescents.