Dendroarchitectonics of neurons in the posterior cortical nucleus of the amygdaloid body of the rat brain as influenced by gender and neonatal androgenization.

The aim of the present work was to identify gender-related differences in the dendroarchitectonics of neurons in the posterior cortical nucleus of the amygdaloid body and the role of androgens in forming the dendroarchitectonics during the period of sexual differentiation of the rat brain. Golgi staining showed that long-axon, sparsely branched neurons in males had large numbers of primary dendrites, while long-axon densely branched neurons had a greater total dendrite length in females. Administration of testosterone propionate (1250 microg) to females on postnatal day 5 increased the number of primary dendrites in long-axon, sparsely branched neurons in adults as compared with the number in control females; treatment also produced a significant increase in dendrite length in long-axon, densely branched neurons, leading to an increase in the area of the dendritic field.