Chronic (-)deprenyl administration alters dendritic morphology of layer III pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex of adult Bonnett monkeys

Chronic (-) deprenyl (0.2 mg/kg, b.wt; for 25 days) treatment induced alter ations in the dendritic morphology of prefrontal cortical neurons in adult Bonnett monkeys were evaluated in the present study. The branching points a nd intersections in apical and basal dendrites were studied up to a distanc e of 400 and 200 mu m, respectively, in Golgi impregnated layer III pyramid al neurons of the prefrontal cortex. Our results revealed a significant (p < 0.001) increase in the number of branching points and intersections in bo th apical and basal dendrites in (-)deprenyl treated monkeys compared to co ntrols. Such an enriched dendritic arborization in prefrontal cortical neur ons may be responsible for the enhancement of cognitive functions in Alzhei mer disease patients following (-) deprenyl treatment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.