Environmental enrichment: Effects on spatial memory and hippocampal CREB immunoreactivity
- 1 July 2001
- journal article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Physiology & Behavior
- Vol. 73 (4), 649-658
- https://doi.org/10.1016/s0031-9384(01)00543-1
Abstract
Environmental enrichment has been shown to improve performance in tests of spatial memory, induce neurogenesis in the hippocampus, enhance survival of newly formed granule cells, and inhibit spontaneous apoptosis. Although neuroplasticity of the mammalian brain declines with age, recent evidence suggests that the adult brain exhibits significant plasticity in response to environmental stimulation. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on spatial memory and on immunoreactivity to cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) from the hippocampus. C57/BL/6 mice were trained in a Morris water maze after exposure to an enriched environment, either from 35 to 94 days or from 100 to 159 days of age. Hippocampal tissue from representative animals was later analyzed by Western blot for CREB immunoreactivity. Results indicate that environmental enrichment (particularly during the earlier period) improved performance on the Morris water maze and tended to increase immunoreactivity to CREB in the hippocampus. Social interaction by itself did not result in significant differences in navigational performance. Results with regard to social interaction and CREB immunoreactivity were mixed. Results are discussed in terms of evaluating the construct of enrichment, the correlation of CREB transcription and behavior change, and the importance of the developmental period for enrichment.Keywords
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Memory Formation: The Sequence of Biochemical Events in the Hippocampus and Its Connection to Activity in Other Brain StructuresNeurobiology of Learning and Memory, 1997
- More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enriched environmentNature, 1997
- Neuronal Activity Increases the Phosphorylation of the Transcription Factor cAMP Response Element-binding Protein (CREB) in Rat Hippocampus and CortexPublished by Elsevier BV ,1996
- Risk Factors for Dementia in Parkinson's Disease: Effect of EducationNeuroepidemiology, 1995
- Aplysia CREB2 represses long-term facilitation: Relief of repression converts transient facilitation into long-term functional and structural changeCell, 1995
- Memory Mechanisms: Photographic memory in fliesCurrent Biology, 1995
- Brief exposure to an enriched environment improves performance on the Morris water task and increases hippocampal cytosolic protein kinase C activity in young ratsBehavioural Brain Research, 1992
- Early rearing environment and dorsal hippocampal ibotenic acid lesions: long-term influences on spatial learning and altenation in the ratBehavioural Brain Research, 1989
- Differences between inbred strains of mice in Morris water maze performanceBehavior Genetics, 1988
- Spatial localization does not require the presence of local cuesLearning and Motivation, 1981