Environmental enrichment and its influence on rodent offspring and maternal behaviours, a scoping style review of indices of depression and anxiety

Sparling, Jessica; Barbeau, Kheana; Boileau, Kayla; Konkle, Anne T. M.

doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2020.172997

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…Widely considered positively influencing cognition, it is a potential treatment application for a wide source of human traits (McDonald et al, 2018;Ball et al, 2019;Kempermann, 2019). On the counterpart, other studies found multiple sources of variability, confounds or even deleterious effects of EE (Berardo et al, 2016;Sparling et al, 2020). Generally, EE represents external factors, such as sensory, physical, cognitive, and social stimulation to provide and to maintain constant novelty and complexity, thereby laying a key foundation for future learning processes (Rountree-Harrison et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Enrichment Induces Epigenomic and Genome Organization Changes Relevant for Cognition

Espeso‐Gil

Holik

Bonnin

et al. 2021

Front. Mol. Neurosci.

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In early development, the environment triggers mnemonic epigenomic programs resulting in memory and learning experiences to confer cognitive phenotypes into adulthood. To uncover how environmental stimulation impacts the epigenome and genome organization, we used the paradigm of environmental enrichment (EE) in young mice constantly receiving novel stimulation. We profiled epigenome and chromatin architecture in whole cortex and sorted neurons by deep-sequencing techniques. Specifically, we studied chromatin accessibility, gene and protein regulation, and 3D genome conformation, combined with predicted enhancer and chromatin interactions. We identified increased chromatin accessibility, transcription factor binding including CTCF-mediated insulation, differential occupancy of H3K36me3 and H3K79me2, and changes in transcriptional programs required for neuronal development. EE stimuli led to local genome re-organization by inducing increased contacts between chromosomes 7 and 17 (inter-chromosomal). Our findings support the notion that EE-induced learning and memory processes are directly associated with the epigenome and genome organization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Enrichment Induces Epigenomic and Genome Organization Changes Relevant for Cognition

Espeso‐Gil

Holik

Bonnin

et al. 2021

Front. Mol. Neurosci.

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“…Indeed, adult bapa mice also does not present anxiety‐like behavior when evaluated on the elevated plus maze test (Oliveira, 2017). Apropos, elevated plus maze is currently the most popular test of anxiety in rodents (Sparling et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Apropos, elevated plus maze is currently the most popular test of anxiety in rodents (Sparling et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bate palmas mutant mice as a model of Kabuki syndrome: Higher susceptibility to infections and vocalization impairments?

Kirsten

Silva

Biondi

et al. 2022

J of Neuroscience Research

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The recessive mutant mouse bate palmas (bapa) arose from N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis. Previous studies of our group revealed some behavioral impairments and a mutation in the lysine (K)-specific methyltransferase 2D (Kmt2d) gene. Because mutations in the KMT2D gene in humans are mainly responsible for Kabuki syndrome, this study was proposed to validate bapa mice as a model of Kabuki syndrome.Besides other symptoms, Kabuki syndrome is characterized by increased susceptibility to infections and speech impairments, usually diagnosed in the early childhood. Thus, juvenile male and female bapa mice were studied in different developmental stages (prepubertal period and puberty). To induce sickness behavior and to study infection susceptibility responses, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used. To study oral communication, ultrasonic vocalizations were evaluated. Behavioral (open-field test) and central (astrocytic glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP] and tyrosine hydroxylase [TH]) evaluations were also performed. Control and bapa female mice emitted 31-kHz ultrasounds on prepubertal period when exploring a novel environment, a frequency not yet described for mice, being defined as 31-kHz exploratory vocalizations. Males, LPS, and puberty inhibited these vocalizations. Bapa mice presented increased motor/ exploratory behaviors on prepubertal period due to increased striatal TH expression, revealing striatal dopaminergic system hyperactivity. Combining open-field behavior and GFAP expression, bapa mice did not develop LPS tolerance, that is, they remained expressing signs of sickness behavior after LPS challenge, being more susceptible to infectious/inflammatory processes. It was concluded that bapa mice is a robust experimental model of Kabuki syndrome.

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“…From a purely scientific perspective, EE can mitigate the effects of several experimental treatments and animal models of disease (Nithianantharajah & Hannan, 2006) and is often interpreted as a beneficial intervention (Sparling et al, 2020). However, this calls into question the external validity of these apparent context specific effects (Bernard, 2019;Manouze et al, 2019) and the robustness of our animal models; a clear example of fallacious reasoning (Bernard, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regardless of the purpose of its use, there are questions about potential within-and betweenexperiment variability that may accompany the addition of environmental complexity to animal laboratory cages (Kempermann, 2019;Bayne & Würbel, 2014, Grimm, 2018Toth, 2015;Toth et al, 2011;Sparling et al, 2020). It is thought that the diverse phenotypes promoted by EE may lead to data variation within a study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Environmental Enrichment to Phenotypic Variation in Mice and Rats

Kentner

Speno

Doucette

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The reproducibility and translation of neuroscience research is assumed to be undermined by introducing environmental complexity and heterogeneity. Rearing laboratory animals with minimal (if any) environmental stimulation is thought to control for biological variability but may not adequately test the robustness of our animal models. Standard laboratory housing is associated with reduced demonstrations of species typical behaviors and changes in neurophysiology that may impact the translation of research results. Moreover, modest increases in environmental enrichment (EE) mitigate against insults used to induce animal models of disease, directly calling into question the translatability of our work and may in part underlie the disconnect between preclinical and clinical research findings. Enhancing environmental stimulation for our model organisms promotes ethological natural behaviors but may simultaneously increase phenotypic trait variability. To test this assumption, we conducted a systematic review and evaluated coefficients of variation between EE and control housed animals. Overall, animals housed in enrichment were not more variable than controls. Therefore, environmental heterogeneity introduced into the laboratory does not compromise data integrity.

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Environmental enrichment and its influence on rodent offspring and maternal behaviours, a scoping style review of indices of depression and anxiety

Cited by 25 publications

References 111 publications

Environmental Enrichment Induces Epigenomic and Genome Organization Changes Relevant for Cognition

Environmental Enrichment Induces Epigenomic and Genome Organization Changes Relevant for Cognition

Bate palmas mutant mice as a model of Kabuki syndrome: Higher susceptibility to infections and vocalization impairments?

The Contribution of Environmental Enrichment to Phenotypic Variation in Mice and Rats

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