Separation and fatherhood have hippocampal subfield-specific effects on dendritic spine density in California mouse fathers.

<p>(A) Separation from mate and/or offspring decreases dendritic spine density of dentate gyrus (DG) granule cells, compared to control males. *p ≤ 0.05. (B) Neither paternal experience nor separation alters dendritic spine density of CA1 apical pyramidal cells. (C) Paternal experience increases spine density on CA1 basal dendrites, but (D) decreases spine density of CA3 apical dendrites ⁺p ≤ 0.05, non-fathers compared to fathers, ^&p ≤ 0.001, non-fathers compared to fathers. (E) Neither paternal experience nor separation alters dendritic spine density of CA3 basal pyramidal cells. Bars represent Mean + SEM.