Social Environmental Enrichment Research Articles

Environmental Enrichment Components Required to Reduce Methamphetamine-Induced Behavioral Sensitization in Mice: Examination of Behaviors and Neural Substrates.

Environmental enrichment (EE) involves the presentation of various sensory, physical, social, and cognitive stimuli in order to alter neural activity in specific brain areas, which can ameliorate methamphetamine (MAMPH)-induced behavioral sensitization and comorbid anxiety symptoms. No previous studies have comprehensively examined which EE components are critical for effectively reducing MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization and anxiety. This study examined different housing conditions, including standard housing (SH, No EE), standard EE (STEE), physical EE (PEE), cognitive EE (CEE), and social EE (SEE). In the beginning, mice were randomly assigned to the different combinations of housing conditions and injections, consisting of No EE/Saline, No EE/MAMPH, STEE/MAMPH, PEE/MAMPH, CEE/MAMPH, and SEE/MAMPH groups. Then, the mice received intraperitoneal injections of 1 mg/kg MAMPH or normal saline daily for 7 days, followed by a final injection of 0.5 mg/kg MAMPH or normal saline. After behavioral tests, all mice were examined for c-Fos immunohistochemical staining. The results showed that MAMPH induced behavioral sensitization as measured by distance traveled. MAMPH appeared to induce lowered anxiety responses and severe hyperactivity. All EE conditions did not affect MAMPH-induced lowered anxiety behaviors. STEE was likely more effective for reducing MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization than PEE, CEE, and SEE. The c-Fos expression analysis showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (i.e., cingulate cortex 1 (Cg1), prelimbic cortex (PrL), and infralimbic cortex (IL)), nucleus accumbens (NAc), basolateral amygdala (BLA), ventral tegmental area (VTA), caudate-putamen (CPu), and hippocampus (i.e., CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG)) contributed to MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization. The Cg1, IL, NAc, BLA, VTA, CPu, CA3, and DG also mediated STEE reductions in MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization. This study indicates that all components of EE are crucial for ameliorating MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization, as no individual EE component was able to effectively reduce MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization. The present findings provide insight into the development of non-pharmacological interventions for reducing MAMPH-induced behavioral sensitization.

Regional Differences in BDNF Expression and Behavior as a Function of Sex and Enrichment Type: Oxytocin Matters.

The early environment is critical to brain development, but the relative contribution of physical versus social stimulation is unclear. Here, we investigated in male and female rats the response to early physical and social environmental enrichment in relation to oxytocin (OT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. The findings show that males and females respond differently to prolonged sensorimotor stimulation from postnatal days 21-110 in terms of functional, structural, and molecular changes in the hippocampus versus medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Physical enrichment promoted motor and cognitive functions and hippocampal BDNF mRNA and protein expression in both sexes. Combined physical and social enrichment, however, promoted functional and structural gain in females. These changes were accompanied by elevated plasma oxytocin (OT) levels and BDNF mRNA expression in the mPFC, while the hippocampus was not affected. Administration of an OT antagonist in females blocked the beneficial effects of enrichment and led to reduced cortical BDNF signaling. These findings suggest that an OT-based mechanism selectively stimulates a region-specific BDNF response which is dependent on the type of experience.

Animal welfare and environmental enrichment in the domestic breeding and ornamental rearing of geese and mallards

The concept of animal welfare has been widely studied and discussed in recent years. This is a science, which seeks an improvement in the quality of life of animals, ensuring that they have the right to their 5 basic freedoms respected. Animal welfare practices seek to have animals express their natural behavior, even when they are in captivity, ensuring their physical and psychological health. Such techniques help in the adaptation of the animal to the environment, especially in captive animals and in breeding. There is a direct relationship between the implementation of animal welfare practices and the ability of them to adapt and have a good quality of life in the environment in which it was inserted. The growing increase in ornamental bird breeding and as pets has revealed the need to study and ensure welfare practices in the rearing of these animals. One of the techniques used to ensure animal welfare is the implementation of different types of environmental enrichments. Environmental enrichment seeks through different techniques and materials to provide more attractive and stimulating environments to animals, allowing interaction between animals and animal-environment, enabling them to enjoy and explore the environment, optimizing the available spaces, providing opportunities for the development of behaviors and natural abilities of the species, reducing the stress caused by space limitation and absence of stimuli. The objective of this work was to relate animal welfare in the implementation of environmental enrichment in two breeding stake of geese and mallards, one for ornamental and domestic purposes, birds being reared as pets. In particular describe the creation, report the implementation of three types of environmental enrichment: food, physical and social, and response of birds after the implementation of this technique of animal welfare promotion. The results of the implementation of food, physical and social environmental enrichment, to improve the well-being of birds, were verified in both breedings, obtaining a positive result. There was an improvement in the behavior of the animals, which is closer to the natural in both groups, attesting to improvement in quality of life and providing physical and psychological well-being to birds.