CLINICS 2011;66(4):663-671 Effect of Bacopa monniera on amygdaloid neurons Vollala VR et al. Figure 5 - Camera lucida tracings of basolateral amygdaloid neurons from control rats A) and rats treated with Bacopa monniera for 6 weeks at doses of 20 mg/kg B), 40 mg/kg C) and 80 mg/kg D). these neurons that are available for the formation of new synapses. It should be noted from the results that a significant number of additional dendrites were formed closer to the somata of neurons. This result suggests that these new synapses may result in a more rapid and effective conduction of impulses, which probably is one of the reasons for the enhanced learning and memory in these rats that has been reported previously.34 The learning process is associated with alterations in the dendritic morphology of amygdaloid neurons.33,39 In this Table 3 - Basolateral amygdaloid neuronal dendritic intersections and the number of dendritic processes arising from the somata (6-week duration). Groups NC GAC BM 20 mg/kg BM 40 mg/kg BM 80 mg/kg n 8 8 8 8 8 Distance from soma, mm 20 5.34 ¡ 0.56 5.87 ¡ 0.61 6.12 ¡ 0.65 7.60 ¡ 0.73*** 7.38 ¡ 0.59$$$ 40 6.86 ¡ 1.12 7.15 ¡ 0.75 9.08 ¡ 1.17## 12.18 ¡ 1.24*** 11.69 ¡ 1.42$$$ 60 6.39 ¡ 0.50 6.25 ¡ 0.83 8.14 ¡ 1.25## 11.81 ¡ 1.09*** 11.47 ¡ 0.94$$$ 80 4.58 ¡ 0.71 4.37 ¡ 0.68 5.18 ¡ 0.56 8.13 ¡ 1.04*** 7.79 ¡ 0.87$$$ 100 3.45 ¡ 0.69 3.34 ¡ 0.48 3.67 ¡ 0.44 5.08 ¡ 0.96** 4.93 ¡ 1.13$$ Number of processes 4.31 ¡ 0.64 4.39 ¡ 0.58 4.85 ¡ 0.70 5.57 ¡ 0.62*** 5.41 ¡ 0.43$$ BM, Bacopa monniera; GAC, gum acacia control; NC, normal control. Note: Each value represents mean ¡ standard deviation. NC vs. BM 20 mg/kg: ## P,0.01; NC vs. BM 40 mg/kg: ** P,0.01, *** P,0.001; NC vs. BM 80 mg/ kg: $$ P,0.01, $$$ P,0.001. 669