[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Program#/Poster#: 279.2/MM16
Abstract: Withdrawn
Poster
279. Steroids and Plasticity I
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 279.3/MM17
Topic: E.01.c. Steroids and plasticity
Support: NS28421
MH081503-01A1
Title: The role of androgen receptors in determining the sex difference in neuron number in the
posterodorsal medial amygdala (MePD)
Authors: *A. DURAZZO, C. L. JORDAN, S. M. BREEDLOVE;
Dept Neurosci, Michigan St Univ., East Lansing, MI
Abstract: Steroid hormone receptors play a crucial role in the sexual differentiation of the rodent
brain. In this study we examined the effect of the testicular feminization mutation (tfm), which
results in a dysfunctional androgen receptor protein, on the morphology of the rat posterodorsal
subregion of the medial amygdala (MePD), a sexually dimorphic brain region that is an
important component of the rodent mating circuit. Adult (90 day old) male, female and tfm Long
Evans rats were sacrificed and both volumes and neuronal numbers were quantified. In
accordance with previous findings from our lab (Morris et al., 2008), we observed significantly
greater volumes in males than females, and a main effect of laterality with the right hemisphere
generally being larger than the left. Preliminary analysis indicates that the number of MePD
neurons in tfm males did not differ from wild type males, indicating that androgen receptors are
not required for the masculinization of MePD neuronal numbers and, by elimination, that
estrogen receptors may be involved in the sexual differentiation of this parameter.
Disclosures: A. Durazzo , None; C.L. Jordan, None; S.M. Breedlove, None.
Poster