Adolescence is a sensitive period for prefrontal microglia to act on cognitive development

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a cortical brain region that regulates various cognitive functions. One distinctive feature of the PFC is its protracted adolescent maturation, which is necessary for acquiring mature cognitive abilities in adulthood. Here, we show that microglia, the brain's resi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2022-03, Vol.8 (9), p.eabi6672
Main Authors: Schalbetter, Sina M, von Arx, Anina S, Cruz-Ochoa, Natalia, Dawson, Kara, Ivanov, Andranik, Mueller, Flavia S, Lin, Han-Yu, Amport, René, Mildenberger, Wiebke, Mattei, Daniele, Beule, Dieter, Földy, Csaba, Greter, Melanie, Notter, Tina, Meyer, Urs
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Neuroscience
SciAdv r-articles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a cortical brain region that regulates various cognitive functions. One distinctive feature of the PFC is its protracted adolescent maturation, which is necessary for acquiring mature cognitive abilities in adulthood. Here, we show that microglia, the brain's resident immune cells, contribute to this maturational process. We find that transient and cell-specific deficiency of prefrontal microglia in adolescence is sufficient to induce an adult emergence of PFC-associated impairments in cognitive functions, dendritic complexity, and synaptic structures. While prefrontal microglia deficiency in adolescence also altered the excitatory-inhibitory balance in adult prefrontal circuits, there were no cognitive sequelae when prefrontal microglia were depleted in adulthood. Thus, our findings identify adolescence as a sensitive period for prefrontal microglia to act on cognitive development.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abi6672