Abstract
Objective To investigate the effect of the social isolation on the cognitive behavior and the structure as well as the expression of synapse-associated proteins in different brain regions in adult rats. Methods Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley adult rats (10 months) were divided into group-housed group (4 per cage) and isolation group(1 per cage). Six-weeks later, Morris water maze test, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and Western-blot were used to detect cognitive function, brain structure and pathological changes of synapse respectively. Results In the Morris water maze test, compared with the group-housed animals, the escaping latency in social isolation group prolonged((21.49±1.38) s vs (16.64±1.70) s, P<0.05) on day 5 was significantly. Meanwhile, compared with the group-housed animals, the percentage of time spent in target quadrant and the number of target crossings in social isolation group was significantly decreased ((1.91±0.25) vs (3.08±0.31), P<0.01; (28.39±1.70)% vs (36.14±2.89)%, P<0.05). Compared with the group-housed animals, social isolation group showed significantly reduced GM volume in the hippocampus, amygdala, auditory cortex and retrosplenial cortex. Compared with the group-housed animals, the synaptophysin and PSD93 expression in the hippocampus (synaptophysin: (0.61±0.03)vs(1.18±0.07), P<0.05; PSD93: (0.54±0.03)vs (1.36±0.08), P<0.01) and the PSD93 expression in the amygdala ((0.97±0.08) vs (1.63±0.2), P<0.01) were significantly decreased in social isolation group. Conclusion Social isolation can cause spatial memory deficits in adult rats. The atrophy of hippocampus and amygdala, together with the decreased synaptic plasticity in hippocampus and amygdala may be involved in spatial memory deficits in social isolation rats. Key words: Social isolation; Voxel-based morphometry; Synapse-associated proteins; Cognitive impairment
Published Version
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