Changes in the neonatal gonadal hormonal environment prevent behavioral sparing and alter cortical morphogenesis after early frontal cortex lesions in male and female rats.

The effects of perinatal exposure to testicular hormones were studied in male and female rats given medial prefrontal lesions (PFC) on Postnatal Day 7. Hormonally intact rats with PFC lesions showed recovery of performance of the Morris water task but no recovery on a forelimb reaching task. Recovery was abolished in both males gonadectomized at birth and in females given testosterone at birth. Male rats with PFC lesions showed an increase in pyramidal cell spine density. This was blocked in gonadectomized animals. In contrast, female rats with PFC lesions showed an increase in dendritic arbor. This was reduced by perinatal testosterone. Interference with the gonadal hormonal environment reduced the brain's ability to compensate for the effects of early cortical lesions.