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Differential effects of environmental enrichment and isolation housing on the hormonal and neurochemical responses to stress in the prefrontal cortex of the adult rat: relationship to working and emotional memories
- Source :
- E-Prints Complutense. Archivo Institucional de la UCM, instname, E-Prints Complutense: Archivo Institucional de la UCM, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
- Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- The present study was designed to investigate the modulation of the stress responses by the environmental conditions and its putative neurobiological mechanisms. For that an integrative study on the effects of environmental enrichment and isolation housing on (1) the corticosterone, dopamine and acetylcholine responses to acute restraint stress in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the awake rat; (2) the mRNA levels of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the PFC, and (3) the behavioral responses to stress, related to the PFC (habituation to a novel environment, spatial-working memory and inhibitory avoidance response) was performed. Male Wistar rats were maintained from 3 to 6 months of age in two different conditions: enriched (EC) or impoverished (IC). Animals were stereotaxically implanted with bilateral guide cannulae in the PFC to perform microdialysis experiments to evaluate the concentrations of corticosterone, dopamine and acetylcholine. EC animals showed lower increases of corticosterone and dopamine but not of acetylcholine than IC animals in the PFC in response to acute restraint stress (20 min). In the PFC, GR mRNA levels showed a trend towards an enhancement in EC animals. EC reduced the days to learn the spatial working memory task (radial-water maze). Spatial working memory, however, was not different between groups in either basal or stress conditions. Inhibitory avoidance response was reduced in EC rats. The changes produced by EC in the neurochemical, neuroendocrine and behavioral parameters evaluated suggest that EC rats could show a better coping during an acute stress challenge.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Dopamine
Microdialysis
Neurociencias
Prefrontal Cortex
Avoidance response
Environment
Spatial memory
chemistry.chemical_compound
Neurochemical
Receptors, Glucocorticoid
Corticosterone
Internal medicine
medicine
Avoidance Learning
Animals
RNA, Messenger
Habituation
Rats, Wistar
Prefrontal cortex
Maze Learning
Biological Psychiatry
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Environmental enrichment
Analysis of Variance
Working memory
Acetylcholine
Rats
Psychiatry and Mental health
Disease Models, Animal
Endocrinology
Neurology
chemistry
Social Isolation
Exploratory Behavior
Neurology (clinical)
Psychology
Stress, Psychological
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14351463
- Volume :
- 120
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3ab691b7094b382845cff67743428ef8