ArticleNutritional neuroscience2025
Prenatal protein malnutrition decreases neuron numbers in the parahippocampal region but not prefrontal cortex in adult rats.
Article in Nutritional neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Updated Neuronal Numbers of the Rat Hippocampal Formation: Redesigning the Hippocampal Model.Hippocampus · 2026Article
- Physical exercise/melatonin interaction in young rats fed a low-protein diet: a behavioral, electrophysiological, and redox balance analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
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9 authors.
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Abstract
objectivePrenatal protein malnutrition produces anatomical and functional changes in the developing brain that persist despite immediate postnatal nutritional rehabilitation. Brain networks of prenatally malnourished animals show diminished activation of prefrontal areas and an increased activation of hippocampal regions during an attentional task [1]. While a reduction in cell number has been documented in hippocampal subfield CA1, nothing is known about changes in neuron numbers in the prefrontal or parahippocampal cortices.
methodsIn the present study, we used unbiased stereology to investigate the effect of prenatal protein malnutrition on the neuron numbers in the medial prefrontal cortex and the cortices of the parahippocampal region that comprise the larger functional network.
resultsResults show that prenatal protein malnutrition does not cause changes in the neuronal population in the medial prefrontal cortex of adult rats, indicating that the decrease in functional activation during attentional tasks is not due to a reduction in the number of neurons. Results also show that prenatal protein malnutrition is associated with a reduction in neuron numbers in specific parahippocampal subregions: the medial entorhinal cortex and presubiculum. DISCUSSION: The affected regions along with CA1 comprise a tightly interconnected circuit, suggesting that prenatal malnutrition confers a vulnerability to specific hippocampal circuits. These findings are consistent with the idea that prenatal protein malnutrition produces a reorganization of structural and functional networks, which may underlie observed alterations in attentional processes and capabilities.
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