Sex difference in synaptic plasticity in the anterior cingulate cortex of adult mice

• Published in: Molecular brain Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 41
• Main Authors: Liu, Ren-Hao, Xue, Man, Li, Xu-Hui, Zhuo, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 16.03.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aging - physiology; Animals; Anterior cingulate cortex; Brain; Chronic pain; Cortex (cingulate); Depression (Mood disorder); Electric Stimulation; Experiments; Female; Gyrus Cinguli - physiology; Laws, regulations and rules; Long-term depression; Long-term potentiation; Long-Term Potentiation - physiology; Male; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Pain; Rodents; Sex Characteristics; Sex difference; Synaptic plasticity; Theta Rhythm - physiology; Japan; Female; Male; Anterior cingulate cortex; Long-term depression; Sex difference; Long-term potentiation
• ISSN: 1756-6606; 1756-6606
• DOI: 10.1186/s13041-020-00583-8

Sex differences in certain types of pain sensitivity and emotional responses have been previously reported. Synaptic plasticity is a key cellular mechanism for pain perception and emotional regulation, including long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). However, it is unclear whether there is a sex difference at synaptic level. Recent studies indicate that excitatory transmission and plasticity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are critical in chronic pain and pain related emotional responses. In the present study, we used 64-channel multielectrode (MED64) system to record synaptic plasticity in the ACC of male and female adult mice. We found that there was no significant difference in theta-burst stimulation (TBS)-induced LTP between female and male mice. Furthermore, the recruitment of inactive channels was also not different. For LTD, we found that LTD was greater in slices of ACC in male mice than female mice. Our results demonstrate that LTP in the ACC does not show any sex-related difference.