Abstract
This study investigated whether environmental enrichment (EE) could reduce stress and improve wound healing in humans. 120 participants underwent a standardised tape-stripping procedure and were then randomised to interact for 30 minutes with one of three EE interventions (comfort blankets as tactile enrichment, music as auditory enrichment or a Paro robot as multi-sensory enrichment) or to a control group. Skin barrier recovery (SBR) was measured using transepidermal water loss at baseline, after tape-stripping and after the intervention. Psychological variables, cortisol and alpha-amylase were measured at the three time-points. SBR did not significantly differ between the EE conditions and the control condition. The music condition had higher stimulation levels than the control condition, and the comfort condition had significantly lower relaxation levels than the control condition after the intervention. The EE interventions tested were not beneficial for wound healing compared to a control group. Limitations were that the sample were not stressed and an active control condition was used.
Highlights
This study investigated whether environmental enrichment (EE) could reduce stress and improve wound healing in humans. 120 participants underwent a standardised tape-stripping procedure and were randomised to interact for 30 minutes with one of three EE interventions or to a control group
This study aimed to investigate whether three types of EE could improve Skin barrier recovery (SBR) after an experimental tape-stripping wound in a healthy population
Findings indicated no significant effects of these interventions on SBR compared to a control condition
Summary
This study investigated whether environmental enrichment (EE) could reduce stress and improve wound healing in humans. 120 participants underwent a standardised tape-stripping procedure and were randomised to interact for 30 minutes with one of three EE interventions (comfort blankets as tactile enrichment, music as auditory enrichment or a Paro robot as multi-sensory enrichment) or to a control group. It has been proposed that EE has beneficial effects by attenuating the stress response[14], with many studies showing that enriched animals have lower cortisol at baseline and in response to acute and chronic stress[11,15]. This reduction in stress reactivity leads to down-stream immunological and psychological benefits. A control environment is where animals are reared in simple cages with only the necessary bedding, food and water available[19] This can be seen as a state of impoverishment, with enrichment being closer to the normal state for wild animals[16]. If this is true EE may not be as effective in human populations who already live in enriched conditions
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