Maternal separation remodels Purkinje cell circuits and impairs cerebellar synaptic plasticity

Maternal separation in CD1 mice from postnatal day 2 to 18 remodels Purkinje cell dendritic arborization and excitatory input, impairing cerebellar long-term synaptic plasticity.

• Why it matters: Early-life adversity is linked to cerebellar abnormalities, but the circuit-level mechanisms and whether they persist through development are unclear.
• What they did: CD1 pups experienced daily maternal separation (P2–P18) versus undisturbed controls, with cerebellar transcriptomic/DNA methylation profiling, Purkinje morphometrics, VGLUT1/VGLUT2 staining, and patch-clamp assays for transmission and plasticity.
• The result: Maternal separation produced early transcriptional remodeling and hypermethylation of the glucocorticoid receptor promoter with reduced cerebellar receptor expression, alongside motor coordination deficits and altered stress-coping and social interaction.

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