The effects of an enriched environment on the histology of the rat cerebral cortex

Diamond, Marian C.; Krech, David; Rosenzweig, Mark R.

doi:10.1002/cne.901230110

Cited by 521 publications

(245 citation statements)

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“…To our knowledge, there are only two studies that have so far evaluated this issue and their results are inconsistent (Renner and Rosenzweig, 1986;Morley-Fletcher et al, 2003). In elucidating the attenuating effects of environmental enrichment in VPA rats, the known effects of enrichment on neurogenesis (Kemperman et al, 1997;Nilsson et al, 1999), neurotrophin gene expression (Torasdotter et al, 1996(Torasdotter et al, , 1998Young et al, 1999;Olsson et al, 1994;Ickes et al, 2000), and anatomical features (Diamond et al, 1964;Diamond, 1967;Rampon et al, 2000;Floeter and Greenough, 1979) should also be taken into account. However, it has been suggested that the most Animal model of autism T Schneider et al important single factor in stimulating brain changes in enriched rats is the enforced interaction with the physical environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experiments have shown that improvements in behavioral performances were accompanied with changes in various neurochemical and anatomical features in rat brains. These changes include, for example, thicker cortex; increased dendritic spine density, and branching in the cerebral cortex (eg Volkmar and Greenough, 1972;Diamond et al, 1964;Diamond, 1967;Greenough et al, 1973), hippocampus (Rampon et al, 2000), striatum (Comery et al, 1995), and cerebellum (Floeter and Greenough, 1979); reduced apoptosis (Young et al, 1999); increased expression of neurotrophic factors (Torasdotter et al, 1996(Torasdotter et al, , 1998Young et al, 1999;Olsson et al, 1994;Ickes et al, 2000); and enhanced neurogenesis (Kempermann et al, 1997;Nilsson et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The first measure was taken immediately lateral to the elevation of the corpus callosum, and second and third measures were taken 150 and 300 m lateral, respectively (as in ref. 59).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social control of brain morphology in a eusocial mammal

Holmes

Rosen

Jordan

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Social status impacts reproductive behavior in diverse vertebrate species, but little is known about how it affects brain morphology. We explore this in the naked mole-rat, a species with the most rigidly organized reproductive hierarchy among mammals. Naked mole-rats live in large, subterranean colonies where breeding is restricted to a single female and small number of males. All other members of the colony, known as subordinates, are reproductively suppressed. Subordinates can become breeders if removed from the colony and placed with an opposite sex partner, but in nature most individuals never attain reproductive status. We examined the brains of breeding and subordinate naked mole-rats of both sexes, including several regions linked to reproduction and shown to be sexually dimorphic in other mammals. Stereological analyses revealed that neural morphology depends on status, such that breeders, regardless of sex, had more cells than subordinates in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus and a larger volume of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, paraventricular nucleus, and medial amygdala. Several other brain regions examined were unaffected. Surprisingly, males and females did not differ on any measure. These findings provide evidence that a change in social status triggers considerable neural remodeling and indicate that status, rather than sex, has a predominant role in determining neural structure in this remarkably social mammal.eusociality ͉ neuroplasticity ͉ reproductive strategy ͉ sex difference ͉ social status

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“…Although neuroplasticity has been studied in animals for over half a century by examining both anatomical (Diamond et al, 1964) and physiological (Zhang and Sejnowski, 2000) changes related to experience, only recently has neuroimaging allowed neuroplasticity to be investigated in vivo in humans. High-resolution structural images of the living human brain enabled precise measurement of changes in tissue volume longitudinally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%