Early life stress effect on microglia morphology in the developing primate amygdala
Primate amygdala glutamatergic neurons, known as the paralaminar nucleus (PL), mature between infancy and adolescence and is responsible for steep growth curve of amygdala volume during this developmental period.
Microglia in PL neurons supports local neuronal maturation and emerging synaptogenesis and may alter neuronal growth following environmental perturbations such as stress.
The researchers found that microglia in the infant primate PL had relatively large somas and a small arbor size compared to microglia in the adolescent PL, which had a smaller soma and a larger dendritic arbor.
The authors found that after maternal separation, the microglia had increased soma size, arbor size, and complexity and these effects were seen in adolescent PL too, who had experienced the separation many years earlier.
These studies indicate that early stress has “hyper-ramified” phenotype effect on microglia that persists for years and may have consequences for neuronal development in young primates.
https://www.eneuro.org/content/12/1/ENEURO.0466-24.2024
https://sciencemission.com/Microglia-Morphology-in-Developing-Amygdala
