Effects of environmental enrichment on aggressive behavior, dominance hierarchies, and endocrine states in male DBA/2J mice

Haemisch, Andreas; Voss, Thomas Schmidt; Gärtner, Klaus

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(94)90341-7

Cited by 139 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This would suggest that rats in an enriched environment are exposed to chronic stress. Similar changes, which might be considered signs of chronic stress, were observed in mice (Haemisch et al, 1994;Marashi et al, 2003) and pigs (De Jong et al, 1998). However, stay in an enriched environment induced several positive signs, such as increased brain plasticity or faster adaptation to stress stimuli (Moncek et al, 2004).…”

Section: Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 56 2008supporting

confidence: 62%

Impact of housing technology on blood plasma corticosterone levels in laying hens

Pavlík

Ježová

Zapletal

et al. 2008

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that keeping laying hens in an enriched environment supposed to represent a better welfare for the birds is accompanied by decreased corticosterone levels, compared to hens kept under traditional conditions. Plasma corticosterone levels in hens reared in standard and enriched cages and those kept on deep litter from 15 to 75 weeks of age were evaluated. The highest corticosterone levels were observed in hens kept on deep litter, which was associated with a lower intensity of egg production, longest time of movement and a high percentage of time spent dustbathing and scratching. Hens housed in the enriched environment exhibited low levels of aggression, low body weight at the end of the experiment and similar or higher corticosterone levels compared to those of hens kept under standard conditions. Thus, the results of the present study show that housing technologies which are more similar to the animal's natural environment need not be associated with decreased levels of plasma corticosterone. Keeping hens in traditional cage technology was not found to be particularly stressful, which may be an important finding with respect to the current restrictions on outside housing in regions with an increased risk of viral infection.

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Section: Acta Veterinaria Hungarica 56 2008supporting

confidence: 62%

Impact of housing technology on blood plasma corticosterone levels in laying hens

Pavlík

Ježová

Zapletal

et al. 2008

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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“…Larsson et al, 2002;Lupien and McEwen, 1997). Environmental enrichment and estrogen have independently been shown to increase corticosterone levels (Carey et al, 1995;Haemisch et al, 1994;Kempermann et al, 2002), and this may explain why these two factors individually enhanced memory in the present study. However, the combination of estrogen and enrichment may have elevated corticosterone levels beyond optimal levels, impairing memory as a result.…”

Section: Estrogen-enrichment Interactionssupporting

confidence: 48%

Environmental enrichment reduces the mnemonic and neural benefits of estrogen

Gresack

Frick

2004

Neuroscience

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The degree to which memory is enhanced by estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women may depend on environmental factors such as education. The present study utilized an animal model of environmental enrichment to determine whether environmental factors influence the mnemonic and neural response to estrogen. Female mice were raised in standard (SC) or enriched (EC) conditions from weaning until adulthood (7 months). All mice were ovariectomized at 10 weeks, and tested in object recognition and water-escape motivated radial arm maze (WRAM) tasks at 6 months. Each day at the completion of training, mice received injections of 0.1 mg/kg cyclodextrin-encapsulated

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“…Male mice were not examined in the present study because aggressive behavior (fighting) among male mice may confound the interpretation of our spatial enrichment experiments. Also, differences between the genetic backgrounds of animals exposed to enrichment might have an important impact on the amount of synaptic plasticity seen following enrichment (Haemisch et al 1994;van de Weerd et al 1994;Nguyen et al 2000a,b). Hence, the interactions of multiple factors (such as stress, hormones, handling, genetic background, development, and exercise) may importantly influence the outcomes of experiments using spatial enrichment to explore mechanisms of neural and cognitive plasticity.…”

Section: Duffy Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Enrichment Modifies the PKA-Dependence of Hippocampal LTP and Improves Hippocampus-Dependent Memory

Duffy

Craddock²,

Abel³

et al. 2001

Learn. Mem.

295

211

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cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) is critical for the expression of some forms of long-term potentiation (LTP) in area CA1 of the mouse hippocampus and for hippocampus-dependent memory. Exposure to spatially enriched environments can modify LTP and improve behavioral memory in rodents, but the molecular bases for the enhanced memory performance seen in enriched animals are undefined. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to a spatially enriched environment may alter the PKA dependence of hippocampal LTP. Hippocampal slices from enriched mice showed enhanced LTP following a single burst of 100-Hz stimulation in the Schaffer collateral pathway of area CA1. In slices from nonenriched mice, this single-burst form of LTP was less robust and was unaffected by Rp-cAMPS, an inhibitor of PKA. In contrast, the enhanced LTP in enriched mice was attenuated by Rp-cAMPS. Enriched slices expressed greater forskolin-induced, cAMP-dependent synaptic facilitation than did slices from nonenriched mice. Enriched mice showed improved memory for contextual fear conditioning, whereas memory for cued fear conditioning was unaffected following enrichment. Our data indicate that exposure of mice to spatial enrichment alters the PKA dependence of LTP and enhances one type of hippocampus-dependent memory. Environmental enrichment can transform the pharmacological profile of hippocampal LTP, possibly by altering the threshold for activity-dependent recruitment of the cAMP-PKA signaling pathway following electrical and chemical stimulation. We suggest that experience-dependent plasticity of the PKA dependence of hippocampal LTP may be important for regulating the efficacy of hippocampus-based memory.

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Effects of environmental enrichment on aggressive behavior, dominance hierarchies, and endocrine states in male DBA/2J mice

Cited by 139 publications

References 24 publications

Impact of housing technology on blood plasma corticosterone levels in laying hens

Impact of housing technology on blood plasma corticosterone levels in laying hens

Environmental enrichment reduces the mnemonic and neural benefits of estrogen

Environmental Enrichment Modifies the PKA-Dependence of Hippocampal LTP and Improves Hippocampus-Dependent Memory

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