Fig. 5. Effects of volatile anesthetics on gross dendritic arborization. A , Representative examples of semiautomatic Neurolucida (Microbrightfield, Williston, VT) reconstructions of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex in control and volatile-exposed animals 6 h after the initiation of a 2-h-long anesthesia. Quantitative analysis of dendritic length (B , C ), branching points (D , E ), and 3D distribution of dendritic arbor using the Sholl analysis (F , G ) reveals no significant difference in apical and basal dendrites between control and volatile-exposed animals at postnatal day 16. In each experimental group, 12 to 15 cells from three animals were included in the analysis. Results are expressed as mean ± SD. One-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc tests were used for searching statistical difference between age groups. Correction bar: 80 μm.