Why are enriched mice nice? Investigating how environmental enrichment reduces agonism in female C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice

Nip, Emma; Adcock, Aimée; Nazal, Basma; MacLellan, Aileen; Niel, Lee; Choleris, Elena; Levison, Lena; Mason, Georgia

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2019.05.002

Cited by 26 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…We suspect that a combination of factors contributed to the success of this, the 11 th published validation attempt. First, affective state was manipulated through a highly preferred housing system that consistently produces robust differences in affect [34,36,38,39], resulting in large treatment effects. In these complex environments, with numerous places to hide or escape, stressful catching that otherwise could have masked treatment effects [78] was also avoided by training the mice to enter the 'annex cages'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Behavioral observations were conducted to check for expected differences in welfare between EH and CH mice (e.g. higher levels of stereotypic behaviors in the latter; [34,39] (Table S3). Since EH mice had more opportunities to be out of sight, each behavior was calculated as a proportion of visible scans.…”

Section: In-cage Behavioral Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For mice, previous efforts have either not attempted construct validation (5/15 experiments [24][25][26]), or attempted it and failed (10/15 experiments [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]; Table S1). Here, we therefore aimed to validate a novel JB task, manipulating affective state through the use of highly preferred environmentally enriched cages [34], versus conventional cages known to induce stress [35], anxiety [36,37], and depression-like effects [35,38,39]. Environmental enrichment (modification of an animal's environment to improve well-being and meet species-specific needs [40]), has been used in neuroscience for decades for its positive effects in neuroplasticity and disease recovery [41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cancer blues? A validated judgment bias task suggests pessimism in nude mice with tumors

Resasco

MacLellan

Ayala

et al. 2021

Preprint

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In humans, affective states can bias responses to ambiguous information: a phenomenon termed judgment bias (JB). Judgment biases have great potential for assessing affective states in animals, in both animal welfare and biomedical research. New animal JB tasks require construct validation, but for laboratory mice (Mus musculus), the most common research vertebrate, a valid JB task has proved elusive. Here (Experiment 1), we demonstrate construct validity for a novel mouse JB test: an olfactory Go/Go task in which subjects dig for high- or low-value food rewards. In C57BL/6 and Balb/c mice faced with ambiguous cues, latencies to dig were sensitive to high/low welfare housing, environmentally-enriched animals responding with relative optimism through shorter latencies. Illustrating the versatility of a validated JB task across fields of research, it further allowed us to test hypotheses about the mood-altering effects of cancer (Experiment 2). Male nude mice bearing subcutaneous lung adenocarcinomas responded more pessimistically than healthy controls to ambiguous cues. Similar effects were not seen in females, however. To our knowledge, this is the first validation of a mouse JB task and the first demonstration of pessimism in tumor-bearing animals. This task, especially if refined to improve its sensitivity, thus has great potential for investigating mouse welfare, the links between affective state and disease, depression-like states in animals, and hypotheses regarding the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie affect-mediated biases in judgment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: In-cage Behavioral Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cancer blues? A validated judgment bias task suggests pessimism in nude mice with tumors

Resasco

MacLellan

Ayala

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“… (a) The ethogram for scan sampling observations is listed first and was adapted from Makowska et al 26 and Draper 27 . (b) For focal sampling of agonistic interactions of the playpen mice on days 30–33, only agonistic behaviours listed in the lower half of the table were scored (adapted from Nip et al 11 ). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laboratory mice housed in conventional cages commonly develop behavioural stereotypies (i.e. repetitive, unvarying behavioural patterns), which can indicate poor welfare 9 , 10 , and show high levels of inactive-but-awake behaviour, potentially indicative of a depressive state 11 . There are also negative physiological and neurological impacts of conventional cages, such as increased pain responses 12 , increased disease susceptibility related to obesity and lack of exercise 13 , and reduced neuroplasticity (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice

Ratuski

Makowska

Dvorack

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Laboratory mice are typically housed in “shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed to assess if access to playpens is rewarding for conventionally-housed mice and to document mouse behaviour during playpen access. Female C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ, and DBA/2J mice were provided temporary access to a large enriched playpen three times per week; control mice remained in their home cages. We measured latency to enter playpens and anticipatory behaviour to determine if access was rewarding, and recorded mouse behaviour during playpen sessions. Over time, playpen mice entered the playpen more quickly; latency declined from 168 ± 22 to 13 ± 2 s over the 14-d trial. As expected, playpen mice showed an increase in anticipatory behaviour before playpen access (mean ± SE = 19.7 ± 2.6 behavioural transitions), while control mice showed no change in anticipatory behaviour relative to baseline values (2.4 ± 1.6 transitions). Mice in the playpen performed more ambulatory behaviours than control mice who remained in home cages (21.5 ± 0.7 vs 6.9 ± 1.1 observations of 25 total observations). We conclude that conventionally-housed mice find voluntary playpen access rewarding, and suggest this as a useful option for providing laboratory mice with access to more complex environments.

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Environmental enrichment: animal welfare and scientific validity

Würbel,

Novak

2024

The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals

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Why are enriched mice nice? Investigating how environmental enrichment reduces agonism in female C57BL/6, DBA/2, and BALB/c mice

Cited by 26 publications

References 73 publications

Cancer blues? A validated judgment bias task suggests pessimism in nude mice with tumors

Cancer blues? A validated judgment bias task suggests pessimism in nude mice with tumors

Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice

Environmental enrichment: animal welfare and scientific validity

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