Environmental enrichment provides a cognitive reserve to be spent following cerebellar lesion

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Environmental enrichment provides a cognitive reserve to be spent following cerebellar lesion Francesca Foti1, 2*, Debora Cutuli1, 2, Daniela Laricchiuta1, 2, Francesca Gelfo2, 3, Paola De-Bartolo1, 2, Francesco Angelucci2 and Laura Petrosini1, 2 1 University of Rome “Sapienza”, Department of Psychology, Italy 2 IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Italy 3 University of Naples “Parthenope”, Faculty of Motor Sciences, Italy To experimentally verify the reserve hypothesis, the influence of rearing conditions on postural and cognitive performances following hemicerebellar lesion was analyzed. A right hemicerebellectomy was performed in adult rats reared in enriched (EH) or standard (SH) conditions. At symptomatology stabilized, the performances of lesioned rats in spatial tasks were compared with those of sham animals reared in standard condition (SS). Environmental enrichment improved postural performances of EH animals in all post-operative intervals considered. In the Morris Water Maze, EH and SS groups displayed similar latencies as well as total and peripheral distances, while SH animals showed latency and distance values higher than SS and EH animals. Also the analysis of the explorative strategies put into action in performing the task revealed interesting differences among groups. EH and SS groups did not differ in the percentage of Circling and Finding strategies, while SH group displayed higher percentages of Circling and lower percentages of Finding in comparison to SS and EH groups. In the full-baited procedure of Radial Arm Maze (RAM), SH animals exhibited a higher number of errors and perseverations and lower span and 45°-angles percentage in comparison to EH and SS animals. In the RAM forced-choice procedure, EH and SS groups made significantly fewer working memory errors in comparison to SH animals. In the Open Field, no difference among groups was found in the total distance traveled in the arena, while SH group displayed elevated percentages of peripheral distance in comparison to SS and EH groups. The results revealed that the increase in social interactions, cognitive stimulations and physical activity linked to the enriched rearing attenuated postural and cognitive impairments elicited by the cerebellar lesion. These findings demonstrate that rearing in complex environments improves the ability to cope with brain damage suffered in the adulthood. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster presentations Citation: Foti F, Cutuli D, Laricchiuta D, Gelfo F, De-Bartolo P, Angelucci F and Petrosini L (2009). Environmental enrichment provides a cognitive reserve to be spent following cerebellar lesion. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.150 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 09 Jun 2009; Published Online: 09 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Francesca Foti, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Department of Psychology, Rome, Italy, francesca.foti@unicz.it Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Francesca Foti Debora Cutuli Daniela Laricchiuta Francesca Gelfo Paola De-Bartolo Francesco Angelucci Laura Petrosini Google Francesca Foti Debora Cutuli Daniela Laricchiuta Francesca Gelfo Paola De-Bartolo Francesco Angelucci Laura Petrosini Google Scholar Francesca Foti Debora Cutuli Daniela Laricchiuta Francesca Gelfo Paola De-Bartolo Francesco Angelucci Laura Petrosini PubMed Francesca Foti Debora Cutuli Daniela Laricchiuta Francesca Gelfo Paola De-Bartolo Francesco Angelucci Laura Petrosini Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.