Bisphenol-A impairs memory and reduces dendritic spine density in adult male rats.

Tehila Eilam-Stock, Peter Serrano, Maya Frankfurt, Victoria Luine

Department of Psychology, Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10065, USA.

Behavioral neuroscience 2012 Feb

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Exposure to Bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor used in plastics, occurs in the United States on a daily basis. Recent studies suggest exposure during development causes memory deficits later in life; however, the ramifications of exposure in adulthood are unclear. We examined the effects of acute BPA administration (40 μg/kg) on memory and synaptic plasticity in adult male rats. BPA significantly impaired both visual and spatial memory and decreased dendritic spine density on pyramidal cells in CA1 and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Additionally, BPA significantly decreased PSD-95, a synaptic marker, in the hippocampus and increased cytosolic pCREB, a transcription factor, in mPFC. Together, these findings show that a single dose of BPA, below the USEPA reference safe daily limit of 50 μg/kg/day, may block the formation of new memories by interfering with neural plasticity processes in the adult brain.

Citation

Tehila Eilam-Stock, Peter Serrano, Maya Frankfurt, Victoria Luine. Bisphenol-A impairs memory and reduces dendritic spine density in adult male rats. Behavioral neuroscience. 2012 Feb;126(1):175-85