Development of spontaneous stereotyped behavior in deer mice: Effects of early and late exposure to a more complex environment

Powell, Susan B.; Newman, Howard; McDonald, Tayloe A.; Bugenhagen, Paul; Lewis, Mark H.

doi:10.1002/1098-2302(200009)37:2<100::aid-dev5>3.0.co;2-6

Cited by 87 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Attenuation of repetitive activity in VPA rats after environmental enrichment suggests the efficacy of this behavioral procedure in the prevention of stereotypies. This result is consistent with data from other studies (eg Powell et al, 2000). Increased number of pinnings and social explorations observed in enriched animals (both Con-E and VPA-E) in our experiments might also indicate a reduced level of anxiety, as engaging in various forms of social interactions is accompanied by a lower level of attention to environment, and anxious animals display both less play behaviors (Vanderschuren et al, 1995) and less social explorations (Haller et al, 2003;Haller and Bakos, 2002;File and Hyde, 1978).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

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

Schneider

Turczak

Przewłocki

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

249

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: 94%

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

Schneider

Turczak

Przewłocki

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

249

155

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“…The decrease in locomotor activity could possibly result from a reduction in stereotyped behaviors observed in EE mice. 34 The effect of EE on stress can be also assessed by measuring stress hormone levels. To date, no consensus on the effect of EE on resting plasma corticosterone levels is available.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

The anxiolytic effect of environmental enrichment is mediated via amygdalar CRF receptor type 1

et al. 2010

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Environmental enrichment (EE) is known to have an anxiolytic effect in several animal models; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes are not understood. In this study, we have shown that the anxiolytic effect of EE is associated with alterations in the corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1 (CRFR1) expression levels in the limbic system. We found that the decrease in anxiety-like behavior after housing in enriched conditions was associated with very low levels of CRFR1 mRNA expression in the basolateral amygdala of C57BL/6 mice. We further showed using a lentiviral-based system of RNA interference, that knockdown of CRFR1 mRNA expression in the basolateral amygdala induces a significant decrease in anxiety levels, similar to those achieved by EE nurture. Our data strongly suggest that reduced expression of CRFR1 mRNA levels in the basolateral amygdala mediates the effect of EE on anxiety-like behavior. Molecular Psychiatry (2010) 15, 905-917;

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“…This repetitive behavior involved hyperactivity, repeated jumping, and a distinctive back-flipping response using the wire lid of the home cage. The responses were remarkably similar in form to stereotypy reported for deer mice housed in standard cages [39,40]. Enriched housing can reduce the levels of stereotypy and delay the emergence of aberrant motor responses in the deer mice, as well as in other animal models of repetitive behavior [23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social approach and repetitive behavior in eleven inbred mouse strains

Moy

Nadler

Young³

et al. 2008

Behavioural Brain Research

220

211

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Core symptoms of autism include deficits in social interaction, impaired communication, and restricted, repetitive behaviors. The repetitive behavior domain encompasses abnormal motoric stereotypy, an inflexible insistence on sameness, and resistance to change. In recent years, many genetic mouse models of autism and related disorders have been developed, based on candidate genes for disease susceptibility. The present studies are part of an ongoing initiative to develop appropriate behavioral tasks for the evaluation of mouse models relevant to autism. We have previously reported profiles for sociability, preference for social novelty, and resistance to changes in a learned pattern of behavior, as well as other functional domains, for 10 inbred mouse strains of divergent genetic backgrounds. The present studies extend this multi-component behavioral characterization to several additional strains: C58/J, NOD/LtJ, NZB/B1NJ, PL/J, SJL/J, SWR/J, and the wild-derived PERA/ EiJ. C58/J, NOD/LtJ, NZB/B1NJ, SJL/J, and PERA/EiJ demonstrated low sociability, measured by time spent in proximity to an unfamiliar conspecific, with 30% to 60% of mice from these strains showing social avoidance. In the Morris water maze, NZB/B1NJ had a persistent bias for the quadrant where the hidden platform was located during acquisition, even after nine days of reversal training. A particularly interesting profile was found for C58/J, which had low social preference, poor performance in the T-maze, and overt motoric stereotypy. Overall, this set of tasks and observational methods provides a strategy for evaluating novel mouse models in behavioral domains relevant to the autism phenotype.

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Development of spontaneous stereotyped behavior in deer mice: Effects of early and late exposure to a more complex environment

Cited by 87 publications

References 21 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

The anxiolytic effect of environmental enrichment is mediated via amygdalar CRF receptor type 1

Social approach and repetitive behavior in eleven inbred mouse strains

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