Environmental enrichment and deprivation: Effects on learning, memory and exploration

Abstract

Rats were raised in one of four environments: perceptually enriched-socially enriched; perceptually enriched-socially impoverished; perceptually impoverished-socially enriched; and, perceptually impoverished-socially impoverished. After training on a one-trial, step-down passive avoidance task, they were tested for retention after 24 hr (Experiment 1), or given ECS at one of three intervals and then tested for retention after 24 hr (Experiment 2). Social and perceptual variables contributed to performance of groups in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, socially-enriched groups showed a gradient of retention over training-ECS intervals, while socially-impoverished groups showed no difference between the amnestic effects of ECS at 10 and 60 sec suggesting a slowing of consolidation. In open field testing (Experiment 3), perceptually enriched groups entered more squares. Perceptual and social enrichment have different behavioral effects, and it is hypothesized that they may reflect different physiological mechanisms.