Immature neurons in the primate amygdala: changes with early development and disrupted early environment

Elsevier

Available online 25 April 2023, 101248

Developmental Cognitive NeuroscienceAuthor links open overlay panel, , , , Highlights•

Large numbers of immature neurons exist in the amygdala of primates

Between infancy and adolescence in monkeys, the ratio of immature-to-mature neurons shifts suggesting cellular maturation

Immature neuron soma size also increases between infancy and adolescence, suggesting general maturation of this neuronal pool

Immature neuron soma volume and TBR1 mRNA, a driver of glutamatergic neuron development, were strongly correlated with mature neuron counts in infants

Abstract

In human and nonhuman primates, the amygdala paralaminar nucleus (PL) contains immature neurons. To explore the PL’s potential for cellular growth during development, we compared PL neurons in 1) infant and adolescent macaques (control, maternally-reared), and in 2) infant macaques that experienced separation from their mother in the first month of life compared to control maternally-reared infants. In maternally-reared animals, the adolescent PL had fewer immature neurons, more mature neurons, and larger immature soma volumes compared to infant PL. There were also fewer total neurons (immature plus mature) in adolescent versus infant PL, suggesting that some neurons move out of the PL by adolescence. Maternal separation did not change mean immature or mature neuron counts in infant PL. However, across all infant animals, immature neuron soma volume was strongly correlated with mature neuron counts. TBR1 mRNA, a transcript required for glutamatergic neuron maturation, is significantly reduced in the maternally-separated infant PL (DeCampo et al., 2017), and was also positively correlated with mature neuron counts in infant PL. We conclude that immature neurons gradually mature by adolescence, and that the stress of maternal separation may shift this trajectory, as revealed by correlations between TBR1 mRNA and mature neuron numbers across animals.

Keywords

paralaminar nucleus

maternal separation

glutamatergic precursor

stereology, tbr-1

© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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