Dissociable effects of isolation rearing and environmental enrichment on exploration, spatial learning and HPA activity in adult rats

Schrijver, Nicole C.A; Bahr, Nina I.; Weiss, Isabelle; Würbel, Hanno

doi:10.1016/s0091-3057(02)00790-6

Cited by 263 publications

(151 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Con-E rats differed from control animals only in two parameters: they were less anxious in the elevated plus-maze, and exhibited more pinnings, and social explorations. This profile is in concordance with previous studies, which indicate a weak effect of enrichment on behavioral and physiological parameters in 'naïve' animals (van Praag et al, 2000;Schrijver et al, 2002). On the basis of the present data, we would suggest that lower anxiety in VPA rats subjected to environmental enrichment in the early stage of life may conduct to increased exploration, normalized locomotor and repetitive/stereotypic activity, and attenuated nociceptive and tactile thresholds, as fear and anxiety have profound influence on these parameters in animals (eg King et al, 2003;da Silva Torres et al, 2003;Palermo-Neto et al, 2003;Knott and Hutson, 1982).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Environmental Enrichment Reverses Behavioral Alterations in Rats Prenatally Exposed to Valproic Acid: Issues for a Therapeutic Approach in Autism

Schneider

Turczak

Przewłocki

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

255

155

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Environmental enrichment has been repeatedly shown to affect multiple aspects of brain function, and is known to improve cognitive, behavioral, and histopathological outcome after brain injuries. The purpose of the present experiments was to determine the effect of an enriched environment on behavioral aberrations observed in male rats exposed to valproic acid on day 12.5 of gestation (VPA rats), and proposed on the basis of etiological, anatomical, and behavioral data as an animal model of autism. Environmental enrichment reversed almost all behavioral alterations observed in the model. VPA rats after environmental enrichment (VPA-E) compared to VPA rats reared in standard conditions have higher sensitivity to pain and lower sensitivity to nonpainful stimuli; stronger acoustic prepulse inhibition; lower locomotor, repetitive/stereotypic-like activity, and enhanced exploratory activity; decreased anxiety; increased number of social behaviors; and shorter latency to social explorations. In comparison with control animals (Con), VPA-E rats exhibited increased number of pinnings in adolescence and social explorations in adulthood, and were less anxious in the elevated plus maze. Similar differences in social behavior and anxiety were observed between control rats exposed to environmental enrichment (Con-E) and control group reared in standard conditions. These results suggest that postnatal environmental manipulations can counteract the behavioral alterations in VPA rats. We propose environmental enrichment as an important tool for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Environmental Enrichment Reverses Behavioral Alterations in Rats Prenatally Exposed to Valproic Acid: Issues for a Therapeutic Approach in Autism

Schneider

Turczak

Przewłocki

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

255

155

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“…Among factors that could account for the discrepant findings, the time of the light-dark cycle at which the samples were collected may be of major relevance (Cano et al 2008). Confirming previous reports in adult rats (e.g., Bakos et al 2009;Leal-Galicia et al 2007;Schrijver et al 2002; but see Moncek et al 2004), we observed that enrichment did not influence the basal corticosterone level, whatever the age.…”

Section: Basal Corticosterone Levelssupporting

confidence: 84%

Lifelong environmental enrichment in rats: impact on emotional behavior, spatial memory vividness, and cholinergic neurons over the lifespan

Harati

Barbelivien

Herbeaux

et al. 2012

AGE

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We assessed lifelong environmental enrichment effects on possible age-related modifications in emotional behaviors, spatial memory acquisition, retrieval of recent and remote spatial memory, and cholinergic forebrain systems. At the age of 1 month, Long-Evans female rats were placed in standard or enriched rearing conditions and tested after 3 (young), 12 (middle-aged), or 24 (aged)months. Environmental enrichment decreased the reactivity to stressful situations regardless of age. In the water maze test, it delayed the onset of learning deficits and prevented age-dependent spatial learning and recent memory retrieval alterations. Remote memory retrieval, which was altered independently of age under standard rearing conditions, was rescued by enrichment in young and middle-aged, but unfortunately not aged rats. A protected basal forebrain cholinergic system, which could well be one out of several neuronal manifestations of lifelong environmental enrichment, might have contributed to the behavioral benefits of this enrichment.

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“…Studies from our laboratory and others report that enriched animals show a lower reactivity to stress [18,19,21,22,25,26]. Based on the present study, we hypothesize that an enhanced capability of the infralimbic cortex to control the HPA axis contributes to the resilience of enriched animals to stress.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Animals housed in an enriched environment show a lower reactivity to stress that is reflected by a reduced anxiety and a faster habituation to novelty in the open field [18][19][20][21][22][23]. These behavioural effects produced by environmental enrichment (EE) are, in part, mediated by changes in the activity of the HPA axis and the release of corticosterone [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infralimbic cortex controls the activity of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and the formation of aversive memory: Effects of environmental enrichment

Ronzoni

Antón

Mora

et al. 2016

Behavioural Brain Research

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2 HIGHLIGHTS-Infralimbic stimulation increases basal plasma levels of corticosterone.-Environmental enrichment enhances the effects of infralimbic stimulation.-Infralimbic inhibition reduces stress-induced corticosterone in control animals.-Infralimbic cortex contributes to HPA activation during stress and aversive memory. 3 ABSTRACTThe aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the stimulation and inhibition of the ventral part of the medial prefrontal cortex (infralimbic cortex) on basal and stress-induced plasma levels of corticosterone and on the acquisition of aversive memory in animals maintained in control and environmental enrichment (EE) conditions. Intracortical microinjections of the GABA A antagonist picrotoxin and agonist muscimol were performed in male Wistar rats to stimulate and inhibit, respectively, the activity of the infralimbic cortex. Injections were performed 60 min before foot shock stress and training in the inhibitory avoidance task. Picrotoxin injections into the infralimbic cortex increased basal plasma levels of corticosterone.These increases were higher in EE rats which suggest that EE enhances the control exerted by infralimbic cortex over the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and corticosterone release. Muscimol injections into the infralimbic cortex reduced the stress-induced plasma levels of corticosterone and the retention latency 24 h after training in the inhibitory avoidance performance in control and EE animals, respectively. These results further suggest that the infralimbic cortex is required for the activation of the HPA axis during stress and for the acquisition of contextual aversive memories.

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Dissociable effects of isolation rearing and environmental enrichment on exploration, spatial learning and HPA activity in adult rats

Cited by 263 publications

References 59 publications

Environmental Enrichment Reverses Behavioral Alterations in Rats Prenatally Exposed to Valproic Acid: Issues for a Therapeutic Approach in Autism

Environmental Enrichment Reverses Behavioral Alterations in Rats Prenatally Exposed to Valproic Acid: Issues for a Therapeutic Approach in Autism

Lifelong environmental enrichment in rats: impact on emotional behavior, spatial memory vividness, and cholinergic neurons over the lifespan

Infralimbic cortex controls the activity of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and the formation of aversive memory: Effects of environmental enrichment

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