Therapeutic efficacy of environmental enrichment for substance use disorders

Environmental Enrichment During Adolescence Mitigates Cognitive Deficits and Alcohol Vulnerability due to Continuous and Intermittent Perinatal Alcohol Exposure in Adult Rats

“…In addition, our data show that the enriched rearing environment decreases the deprivation effect after a week of forced abstinence, in p-IAD offspring and in p-CTRL rats. These observations are consistent with previous reports showing that exposure to enriched environmental conditions mitigates VTA dopamine neurons’ dysfunction due to perinatal alcohol exposure (Wang et al, 2018 ; Aghaie et al, 2020 ) and, overall, decreases the occurrence of an addictive-like phenotype (Galaj et al, 2020 ). Notably, the effect of the EE against the development of excessive alcohol intake seems to be protective when the exposure occurs during adolescence, while its protective role is limited when EE occurs during adulthood (Rodríguez-Ortega et al, 2018 ).…”

Environmental enrichment during adolescence heightens ethanol intake in female, but not male, adolescent rats that are selectively bred for high and low ethanol intake during adolescence

“…increase in drinking that was induced by EE was similarly expressed by female ADHI 2 and ADLO 2 rats. The ADHI 2 and ADLO 2 lines have been artificially bred for divergent ethanol intake during adolescence and innately exhibit several differences in response to the drug (3,4). These results are consistent with a previous study that reported an increase in ethanol intake after EE, an effect that was similarly exhibited by rats that were selectively bred for high and low novelty seeking (34).…”

“…Environmental enrichment consists of using largerthan-usual homecages that are equipped with toy-like objects and voluntary physical exercise via running wheels. It has been suggested to be promising for mitigating drug use (3). Rodents that were reared under EE conditions exhibited reductions of cocaine-(4) and ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (5) and reductions of drug intake (6).…”

Examination of cortically projecting cholinergic neurons following exercise and environmental intervention in a rodent model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

“…Voluntary wheel‐running (WR) in adulthood has been shown to rescue reductions to cholinergic neuron number and size in the basal forebrain following adolescent AE (Vetreno et al, 2020). In addition to aerobic exercise, exposure to a complex environment (environmental complexity, EC) improves memory acquisition and consolidation via increased cholinergic signaling (Galaj, Barrera, & Ranaldi, 2020; Murphy, Foley, O'Connell, & Regan, 2006; Paban, Chambon, Jaffard, & Alescio‐Lautier, 2005). The synergistic effects of a “super‐intervention,” exposure to voluntary WR prior to inhabitation in EC, has been shown to improve neuroanatomical, epigenetic, and motor impairments in rodent models of FASD (Boschen, McKeown, Roth, & Klintsova, 2017; Hamilton, Criss, & Klintsova, 2015; Hamilton, Whitcher, & Klintsova, 2010; Klintsova et al, 1998; Wagner, Klintsova, Greenough, & Goodlett, 2013; Whitcher & Klintsova, 2008).…”