Environmental Enrichment Conditions Research Articles

Effect of early life housing manipulation on baseline and drug-induced behavioural responses on neurochemistry in the male rat

Employing environmental enrichment (EE) provides continual sources of dynamic interaction for animals. Though an established discipline in behavioural science, the consequences of EE on behavioural pharmacological tests have not been extensively examined. The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of EE (or isolation housing) on a range of behavioural pharmacological tests and brain monoamine and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the rat. Male rats were randomly assigned to IC (isolation), SC (standard group-housed) or EE conditions. IC and SC animals were housed singly or in groups of four in standard cages, whilst the EE group were housed in groups of four in larger cages enriched with a variety of wooden, cardboard and plastic objects. After 5weeks of housing, its impact on the effects of diazepam (DZP) in the elevated plus maze (EPM); desipramine (DMI) in the forced swim test (FST) and amphetamine (AMP) effects on homecage activity were assessed. Post-mortem monoamine and BDNF levels were analysed using HPLC and ELISA. EE rats displayed reduced activity in the OFT, however no other differences were found in baseline behaviours. DMI reduced immobility time in the FST, but only for rats housed in IC, while AMP effects were somewhat greater for socially-housed animals than those in IC. There were no housing effects on monoamine or BDNF levels in discreet brain regions. The results suggest that post-weaning enrichment had no significant effect on baseline behaviours or monoamine and BDNF levels, thus it is suitable to implement as a commonplace husbandry practice, however, caution must be taken when investigating responsiveness to psychotropic drugs.

Effect of valproic acid and environmental enrichment on behavioral functions in rats

Deficits of cognitive functions are perceived as an important pathogenic factor of many neurological and psychiatric diseases. Such symptoms can be a result of a disease process or appear due to applied medication. Epilepsy is a disease in which cognitive deficits can occur before first seizures, during seizures and remissions. Valproic acid (VAL, CAS 77372-61-3) is a medicine applied in order to control epileptic seizures and mood stabilizing in bipolar disorders and mania. Its activity is related to the effect on neurotransmission of many systems. The present study was conducted to investigate whether enriched environment (EE) conditions affect learning and memory, and influence the antidepressant effect in rats. VAL improves spatial memory upon repeated administration both in the rats housed in standard conditions (SC) (after 21 days of treatment) and those housed in enriched environment (as early as after 14 days of treatment). VAL has an antidepressant effect on the forced swimming test both in the rats housed in standard conditions and those housed in EE. In rats housed in EE, the antidepressant effect occurred much earlier (as early as after 7 days ofVAL administration). It is worth noting that VAL has a low profile of adverse effects (Activity Meter, chimney test). The correlations observed may be translated into clinical effects, leading to new, more effective VAL therapies in depression or memory disorders in patients with underlying epilepsy.

G-Protein-Associated Signal Transduction Processes Are Restored after Postweaning Environmental Enrichment in Ts65Dn, a Down Syndrome Mouse Model

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) present cognitive deficits that can be improved by early implementation of special care programs. However, they showed limited and temporary cognitive effects. We previously demonstrated that postnatal environmental enrichment (EE) improved clearly, though temporarily, the execution of visuospatial memory tasks in Ts65Dn mice, a DS model bearing a partial trisomy of murine chromosome 16; but in contrast to wild-type littermates, there was a lack of structural plasticity in pyramidal cell structure in the trisomic cerebral cortex. In the present study, we have investigated the impact of EE on the function of adenylyl cyclase and phospholipase C as a possible mechanism underlying the time-limited improvements observed. Basal production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) was not affected, but responses to GTPγS, isoprenaline, noradrenaline, SKF 38393 and forskolin were depressed in the Ts65Dn hippocampus. In EE conditions, cAMP accumulation was not significantly modified in control animals with respect to nonenriched controls. However, EE had a marked effect in Ts65Dn mice, in which cAMP production was significantly increased. Similarly, EE increased phospholipase C activity in Ts65Dn mice, in response to carbachol and calcium. We conclude that EE restores the G-protein-associated signal transduction systems that are altered in Ts65Dn mice.

Environmental enrichment, administered after establishment of cocaine self-administration, reduces lever pressing in extinction and during a cocaine context renewal test

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that environmental enrichment (EE) administered to rats previously trained to self-administer cocaine would reduce responding in extinction and in a cocaine-context renewal test. Long-Evans male rats were trained to press an active lever reinforced by cocaine (1.0 mg/kg/injection) under a fixed-ratio 1 schedule of reinforcement (inactive lever presses produced no consequences). After stable responding was established, all rats were given a 10-day break from the operant chambers followed by random assignment to EE (larger cages equipped with visual and auditory stimuli) or control (standard housing) group conditions in which they lived for the remainder of the experiment. Ten days after this move, rats were exposed to 10 extinction-responding sessions in a context different from the one in which self-administration occurred, followed by a context-renewal session occurring in the original self-administration context. The EE group responded significantly less in both the extinction and context-renewal sessions compared with the control group. These results suggest that EE reduces the ability of cocaine-associated stimuli to control cocaine-related responding.

Exposure to environmental enrichment prior to a cerebral cortex stab wound attenuates the postlesional astroglia response in rats

Modulation of astroglial components involved in reactive postlesional responses in the rat cerebral cortex was analyzed following exposure to environmental enrichment (EE) condition prior to injury. For this purpose, changes in % immunoreactive (IR) area of GFAP, vimentin, EAAT1 and ezrin were evaluated in the perilesional zone after placing a cortical stab wound in the visual cerebral cortex of adult rats. GFAP-IR postlesional reactive astrocytosis in the perilesional cortex was significantly lower in the animal group exposed to EE during postnatal development. This GFAP-IR reaction seems to be associated with existing astroglia, because neither BrdU- nor endogenous Ki-67-labeled nuclei were found in the perilesional cortex analyzed. Increased ezrin-IR area in the visual cortex of rats exposed to EE condition suggests the formation of new synapses or the enhancement of astroglial involvement in the existing ones. No effects of EE were found on either EAAT1- or vimentin-IR area. Results suggest that exposure to EE conditions prior to injury attenuates the postlesional astroglia GFAP-response in the perilesional cortex of rats. Whether this attenuated postlesional astroglia GFAP-response promotes or not protective effects on the cortical neuropil remains to be explored in futures studies.

Memory, Synapse Stability, and β-Adducin

In this issue of Neuron, two studies by Pielage etal. and Bednarek and Caroni suggest that the cytoskeleton regulator β-Adducin provides an activity-dependent switch controlling synapse disassembly and assembly at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and the mouse hippocampus. In mice, the β-Adducin switch is required for the improvement of learning and memory induced by enriched environments.

Effects of satiety on operant responding in rats raised in enrichment

Rats reared in enriched environmental conditions (EC) show altered responding for visual novelty and psychostimulants compared with rats reared in isolated conditions (IC). This study investigated whether response rate was altered in EC and IC rats when a visual stimulus was or was not paired with sucrose delivery in food-deprived and free-fed rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were reared in EC, IC, or social conditions (SC) before training to lever press for liquid sucrose on a fixed ratio 5 schedule. Food-deprived EC rats responded significantly more than IC rats during acquisition and when cue lights were removed, these results were reversed in free-fed rats. In the absence of the cue light, IC food-deprived rats took more time to extinguish responding and showed greater reinstatement compared with EC rats. These results reveal differences between EC and IC rats in response to incentive value and learning abilities. During all phases, responding for SC rats was generally between EC and IC rats. These studies suggest that differences in the incentive value of the stimulus contribute to differential responding in EC, IC, and SC rats for sucrose paired with a cue-light reinforcer.

Differential rearing conditions and alcohol-preferring rats: Consumption of and operant responding for ethanol.

Exposing rats to differential rearing conditions during early postweaning development has been shown to produce changes in a number of behaviors displayed during adulthood. The purpose of the present studies was to investigate whether rearing alcohol-preferring (P) and nonpreferring (NP) rats in an environmental enrichment condition (EC), a social condition (SC), or an impoverished condition (IC) would differentially affect self-administration of 10% ethanol. In Experiment 1, rats were tested for consumption of 10% ethanol in limited- and free-access tests. For Experiment 2, rats were trained to respond in an operant chamber for ethanol and then provided concurrent access to 10% ethanol and water. Each solution was presented in a separate liquid dipper after meeting the schedule of reinforcement on distinct levers. After concurrent access tests, the water lever/dipper was inactivated and a progressive ratio (PR) schedule was initiated. Three successive solutions (10% ethanol, 15% ethanol, and 10% sucrose) were tested under the PR. For P rats, rearing in an EC reduced ethanol consumption, preference, and motivation to obtain ethanol, relative to P rats reared in an IC. Thus, exposure to a novel environment immediately after weaning acted to decrease the reinforcing properties of ethanol in an animal model for alcoholism.

Alternative rearing systems in pigs: consequences on stress indicators at slaughter and meat quality

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of three alternative (ALT) rearing systems for growing pigs (outdoor: 150 m2/pig; straw bedding: 1.30 m2/pig; and hut with access to a courtyard: 1.30 m2/pig) compared with a conventional system (fully slatted floor: 0.65 m2/pig, considered as control), on pre-slaughter stress indicators in relation with meat quality. To that end, the number of skin lesions on whole carcasses, as well as blood creatine kinase (CK) activity and urine levels in cortisol and catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) were determined at slaughter. Glycolytic potential (GP) and ultimate pH of the semimembranosus muscle were also measured. The global correlation network calculated between all these parameters shows that the indicators of pre-slaughter muscle activity (plasma CK) and/or stress indicators (e.g. adrenaline) are negatively (r = −0.26, P < 0.01; r = −0.29, P < 0.05, respectively) correlated with muscle GP and positively (r = 0.17, P < 0.05; r = 0.44, P < 0.001, respectively) with meat ultimate pH. Although some traits measured were sensitive to the degree of pre-slaughter mixing, they differed across rearing systems. The differences were most pronounced for the comparison of outdoors v. slatted floor. The lower levels of plasma CK and urinary catecholamines, and the lower number of carcass skin lesions of pigs reared outdoors, were related to a lower meat ultimate pH. Thus, ALT rearing systems influence animal welfare and meat quality, by providing enriched environmental conditions to the animals.

Differential Regulation of the Variations Induced by Environmental Richness in Adult Neurogenesis as a Function of Time: A Dual Birthdating Analysis

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) augments after environmental enrichment (EE) and it has been related to some of the anxiolytic, antidepressant and neuroprotective effects of EE. Indeed, it has been suggested that EE specifically modulates hippocampal neurogenic cell populations over the course of time. Here we have used dual-birthdating to study two subpopulations of newborn neuron in mice (Mus musculus): those born at the beginning and at the end of enrichment. In this way, we demonstrate that while short-term cell survival is upregulated after an initial 1 week period of enrichment in 2 month old female mice, after long-term enrichment (2 months) neither cell proliferation nor the survival of the younger newly born cell populations are distinguishable from that observed in non-enriched control mice. In addition, we show that the survival of older newborn neurons alone (i.e. those born at the beginning of the enrichment) is higher than in controls, due to the significantly lower levels of cell death. Indeed, these parameters are rapidly adjusted to the sudden cessation of the EE conditions. These findings suggest both an early selective, long-lasting effect of EE on the neurons born in the initial stages of enrichment, and a quick response when the environment again becomes impoverished. Therefore, EE induces differential effects on distinct subpopulations of newborn neurons depending on the age of the immature cells and on the duration of the EE itself. The interaction of these two parameters constitutes a new, specific regulation of these neurogenic populations that might account for the long-term enrichment's behavioral effects.

Rescue of impaired neurogenesis and attenuation of neuropathology in FAD-linked transgenic mice by environmental factors

While the adult mammalian brain exhibits plasticity throughout life, the extent of plasticity declines significantly with aging. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), an aging-linked progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory impairments and cognitive deterioration, numerous aspects of brain plasticity are impaired. For example, we have recently shown that neurogenesis is significantly impaired in the brains of transgenic mice harboring APPswe/PS1ΔE9. In this study we examined the hypothesis that experience of transgenic mice harboring APPswe/PS1ΔE9 in an enriched environment would enhance brain plasticity, manifested in enhanced neurogenesis and hippocampal learning and reduced neuropathology. Extent of neurogenesis and neuropathology were examined in the brain of young APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mice that experienced environmental enrichment and/or standard housing condition. We show that experience of APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mice in enriched environmental conditions upregulates neural progenitor cell proliferation and neural maturation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Environmental enrichment also reduced levels of soluble oligomeric beta-amyloid peptides and of hyperphosphorylated tau, the precursors of AD hallmarks. Functionally, environmental enrichment significantly enhanced hippocampal LTP, without notable alternation in basal synaptic transmission. In addition, we also observed upregulation of the main anterograde motor protein, kinesin-1, in the brains of these transgenic mice, suggesting the enhancement of axonal transport. This study shows that environmental experience can enhance neuroplasticity, attenuate pathology and enhance synaptic plasticity in transgenic mouse models of AD. This study establishes the high significance of environmental factors and lifestyle in the development of AD.

Empirical Comparison of Typical and Atypical Environmental Enrichment Paradigms on Functional and Histological Outcome after Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury

Several studies have shown that housing rats in an enriched environment (EE) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) improves functional and histological outcome. The typical EE includes exploratory, sensory, and social components in cages that are often vastly larger than standard (STD) housing. It is uncertain, however, whether a single or specific component is sufficient to confer these benefits after TBI, or if all, perhaps in an additive or synergistic manner, are necessary. To clarify this ambiguity, anesthetized adult male rats were subjected to either a controlled cortical impact or sham injury, and then were randomly assigned to five different housing paradigms: (1) EE (typical), (2) EE (-social), (3) EE (-stimuli), (4) STD (typical), and (5) STD (+stimuli). Motor and cognitive function were assessed using conventional motor (beam-balance/traversal) and cognitive (spatial learning in a Morris water maze) tests on postoperative days 1-5 and 14-19, respectively, and cortical lesion volume and CA1/CA3 cell loss were quantified at 3 weeks. No significant differences were observed among the sham groups in any comparison and thus their data were pooled (i.e., SHAM). In the TBI groups, typical EE improved beam-balance versus both STD (+stimuli) and EE (-social), it facilitated the acquisition of spatial learning and memory retention versus all other housing conditions (p < 0.003), and it reduced lesion volume and CA3 cell loss versus STD (typical) housing. While rats in the three atypical EE conditions exhibited slightly better cognitive performance and histological protection versus the typical STD group, the overall effects were not significant. These data suggest that exposing TBI rats to any of the three components individually may be more advantageous than no enrichment, but only exposure to typical EE yields optimal benefits.

Long-term motor improvement after stroke is enhanced by short-term treatment with the alpha-2 antagonist, atipamezole

Drugs that increase central noradrenergic activity have been shown to enhance the rate of recovery of motor function in pre-clinical models of brain damage. Less is known about whether noradrenergic agents can improve the extent of motor recovery and whether such improvement can be sustained over time. This study was designed to determine if increasing central noradrenergic tone using atipamezole, an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist, could induce a long-term improvement in motor performance in rats subjected to ischemic brain damage caused by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion. The importance of pairing physical “rehabilitation” with enhanced noradrenergic activity was also investigated. Atipamezole (1 mg/kg, s.c.) or vehicle (sterile saline) was administered once daily on Days 2–8 post-operatively. Half of each drug group was housed under enriched environment conditions supplemented with daily focused activity sessions while the other half received standard housing with no focused activity. Skilled motor performance in forelimb reaching and ladder rung walking was assessed for 8 weeks post-operatively. Animals receiving atipamezole plus rehabilitation exhibited significantly greater motor improvement in both behavioral tests as compared to vehicle-treated animals receiving rehabilitation. Interestingly, animals receiving atipamezole without rehabilitation exhibited a significant motor improvement in the ladder rung walk test but not the forelimb reaching test. These results suggest that a short-term increase in noradrenergic activity can lead to sustained motor improvement following stroke, especially when paired with rehabilitation.

Environmental enrichment and chronic restraint stress in ICR mice: Effects on prepulse inhibition of startle and Y-maze spatial recognition memory

In most studies regarding the improving or therapeutical effects induced by enriched environment (EE), EE was performed after the stress treatment or in patients with certain diseases. In the current study, the effects of chronic restraint stress (6 h/day) in mice living in an enriched environment or standard environment (SE) were tested. Mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: non-stressed or stressed mice housed in SE or EE conditions (SE, stress + SE, EE, stress + EE). Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle was tested after the 2 weeks or 4 weeks stress and/or EE treatment and 1 or 2 weeks withdrawal from the 4 weeks treatment. After the 4 weeks treatment, spatial recognition memory in Y-maze was also tested. The results showed that EE increased PPI in stressed and non-stressed mice after 2 weeks treatment. No effect of EE on PPI was found after the 4 weeks treatment. 4 weeks chronic restraint stress increased PPI in mice housed in standard but not EE conditions. Stressed mice showed deficits on the 1 h delay version of the Y-maze which could be prevented by living in an enriched environment. Our results indicated that living in an enriched environment reversed the impairing effects of chronic restraint stress on spatial recognition memory. However, EE did not change the effects of stress on PPI.

Superior sensory, motor, and cognitive performance in elderly individuals with multi-year dancing activities

Aging is associated with a progressive decline of mental and physical abilities. Considering the current demographic changes in many civilizations there is an urgent need for measures permitting an independent lifestyle into old age. The critical role of physical exercise in mediating and maintaining physical and mental fitness is well-acknowledged. Dance, in addition to physical activity, combines emotions, social interaction, sensory stimulation, motor coordination and music, thereby creating enriched environmental conditions for human individuals. Here we demonstrate the impact of multi-year (average 16.5 years) amateur dancing (AD) in a group of elderly subjects (aged 65–84 years) as compared to education-, gender- and aged-matched controls (CG) having no record of dancing or sporting activities. Besides posture and balance parameters, we tested reaction times, motor behavior, tactile and cognitive performance. In each of the different domains investigated, the AD group had a superior performance as compared to the non-dancer CG group. Analysis of individual performance revealed that the best participants of the AD group were not better than individuals of the CG group. Instead, the AD group lacked individuals showing poor performance, which was frequently observed for the CG group. This observation implies that maintaining a regular schedule of dancing into old age can preserve cognitive, motor and perceptual abilities and prevent them from degradation. We conclude that the far-reaching beneficial effects found in the AD group make dance, beyond its ability to facilitate balance and posture, a prime candidate for the preservation of everyday life competence of elderly individuals.

Attention and memory in aged rats: Impact of lifelong environmental enrichment

Aged rodents exhibit memory and attention dysfunctions. Environmental enrichment (EE) attenuates memory impairments. Whether it may reduce attention deficits is not known. At the age of 1 month, Long-Evans female rats were placed in standard or EE conditions and tested after 3 (young), 12 (middle-aged) or 24 (aged) months of differential housing. Spatial reference memory was assessed in a water-maze task. Attention performance was evaluated in the five-choice serial reaction time (5-CSRT) task. EE improved spatial memory at all ages, but did not ameliorate 5-CSRT performance in young and middle-aged rats; it prevented, however, the degradation of attention performances detected in aged rats. The number of ChAT (+30 to +64%)- and p75(NTR)-positive (+35 to +44%) neurons was higher in the basal forebrain of aged enriched vs. standard rats, suggesting their EE-mediated protection. The weaker deficit of attention found in aged EE rats might be linked to a better survival in the very long term of neurons in the basalo-cortical system.

Enhanced Plasticity in Zincergic, Cortical Circuits after Exposure to Enriched Environments

Despite the plethora of reports that demonstrate plasticity in the mammalian cerebral cortex, the characterization of the cellular mechanisms that mediate it is sparse. Here, we show that the magnitude of the experience-dependent regulation of vesicular zinc is significantly increased through enriched-environment housing. Mice were reared either in a deprived environment and subsequently housed in deprived, minimally enriched, or enriched conditions after the removal of the c-row of vibrissae or reared in an enriched environment before and after vibrissae removal. Levels of vesicular zinc were assessed in deprived and nondeprived barrels 6 h to 14 d after vibrissae removal. We found that housing in enriched environmental conditions resulted in a greater change in vesicular zinc levels than did other housing conditions; however, this effect was dependent on both the magnitude and duration of enrichment. Our data indicate that enriched-environment housing has profound effects on the regulation of vesicular zinc that occurs concurrently with experience-dependent plasticity, suggesting a role for zinc in the multitude of cortical modifications associated with enriched environments.

Environmental enrichment alters dentate granule cell morphology in oldest‐old rat

The hippocampus of aged rats shows marked age-related morphological changes that could cause memory deficits. Experimental evidence has established that environmental enrichment attenuates memory deficits in aged rats. We therefore studied whether environmental enrichment produces morphological changes on the dentate granule cells of aged rats. Fifteen male Sprague-Dawley rats, 24 months of age, were randomly distributed in two groups that were housed under standard (n = 7) or enriched (n = 8) environmental conditions for 26 days. Quantitative data of dendritic morphology from dentate gyrus granule cells were obtained on Golgi-Cox stained sections. Environmental enrichment significantly increased the complexity and size of dendritic tree (total number of segments increased by 61% and length by 116%), and spine density (88% increase). There were large interindividual differences within the enriched group, indicating differential individual responses to environmental stimulation. Previous studies in young animals have shown changes produced by environmental enrichment in the morphology of dentate gyrus granule cells. The results of the present study show that environmental enrichment can also produce changes in dentate granule cell morphology in the senescent brain. In conclusion, the hippocampus retains its neuroplastic capacity during aging, and enriched environmental housing conditions can attenuate age-related dendritic regression and synaptic loss, thus preserving memory functions.

Influence of environmental manipulation on exploratory behaviour in male BDNF knockout mice

It is widely accepted that brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in mediating changes in learning and memory performance induced by environmental conditions. In order to ascertain whether BDNF modulates environmentally induced changes in exploratory behaviour, we examined mice carrying a deletion in one copy of the BDNF gene. Young heterozygous male BDNF knockout mice (BDNF+/−) and their wild-type (WT) controls were exposed to the enriched environment condition (EC) or the standard condition (SC) for 8 weeks. Exploratory behaviour was assessed in the open-field (OF) and hole-board (HB) test. Brains from EC and SC reared animals were processed for Golgi-Cox staining and the dendritic spine density in the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA1 hippocampal regions were examined. We found behavioural differences both due to the genetic modification and the environmental manipulation, with the BDNF+/− mice being more active in the OF whereas the EC mice had increased exploratory behaviour in the HB test. Environmental enrichment also led to an increase in dendritic spines in the hippocampal CA1 region and DG of the wild-type mice. This effect was also found in the enriched BDNF+/− mice, but was less pronounced. Our findings support the critical role of BDNF in behavioural and neural plasticity associated with environmental enrichment and suggest that besides maze learning performance, BDNF dependent mechanisms are also involved in other aspects of behaviour. Here we provide additional evidence that exploratory activity is influenced by BDNF.

Exploratory Behavior in Rats Postnatally Exposed to Cocaine and Housed in an Enriched Environment

Exposure to cocaine in early periods of postnatal life is usually associated with changes in development of neurotransmitter systems and structure of the central nervous system. Such changes are most likely correlated with behavioral alterations. Environmental enrichment conditions (EC) in early stages is a factor that affects structural and behavioral development. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of EC on rats postnatally exposed to cocaine on exploratory behavior. Wistar rats were assigned to four groups-Group 1: pups exposed to cocaine hydrochloride (15 mg/kg body weight/day) s.c., in two daily doses, from postnatal day (PND) 1 to 28 and reared in EC; Group 2: pups exposed to cocaine as previously described and reared in a standard environmental conditions (SC); Group 3: pups saline-injected and reared in EC; and Group 4: pups saline-injected and reared in SC. On PND 21, 24, and 28, groups of four rats (to reduce anxiety) were placed for 10 minutes into an arena with several objects. The following exploratory behavioral categories were examined: object interaction, exploration, manipulation, approximation, and total time of object contact. Animals from Group 2 showed decreased object interaction and total contact on PND 21. Control offspring reared in EE showed decreases in exploratory behavior at all ages analyzed compared with the control SE group, while cocaine-exposed animals reared in EC showed decreased object interaction, object approximation, and total exploratory behavior. The results in this group suggest that EC improved information acquisition and memory processes in animals postnatally exposed to cocaine.