Stereological Analysis of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells In the Adult Mouse Brain

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to further explore the hypothesis that experience-dependent neural network activity and neurotransmission can modulate adult OPC proliferation and differentiation. More specifically, we used stereology to establish whether extensive reference memory training and system-wide administration of GABAergic agonists and antagonists could influence the proliferation and differentiation of adult OPCs, as well as the prevalence of OPC-neuron pairs. Analysis of the effects of reference memory training on OPC proliferation and differentiation corresponds to experiment 2, analysis of the effects of GABAergic agents on OPC proliferation and differentiation corresponds to experiment 3, and analysis of the effects of both reference memory training and GABAergic agents on OPC-neuron pairs, as well as an histological analysis of these closely apposed cells, corresponds to experiment 4.