Regional sex differences in spine density along the apical shaft of visual cortex pyramids during postnatal development.

Dendritic spines from the apical shaft of layer V pyramids were counted on Golgi-stained sections of the monocular subfield of the primary visual cortex of 10-, 20-, 40- and 60-day-old male and female rats. Dendritic segments located in layer IV and at 100-300 microns from the soma had a significantly higher spine content in 10-day-old females when compared to males. This sex difference was extended to outer dendritic segments with increasing age, and became restricted to dendritic segments of outer layers (II-III) located at 400-550 microns from the perikaryon in 40-day-old rats. Sex differences in spine content finally disappeared by day 60. These results show the existence of specific laminar and temporal sex differences in the development of dendritic spines in the apical shaft of visual cortex pyramids.