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Mice in an enriched environment learn more flexibly because of adult hippocampal neurogenesis
- Source :
- Hippocampus 26(2), 261-271 (2015). doi:10.1002/hipo.22520, Hippocampus
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2016.
-
Abstract
- We here show that living in a stimulus‐rich environment (ENR) improves water maze learning with respect to specific key indicators that in previous loss‐of‐function experiments have been shown to rely on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Analyzing the strategies employed by mice to locate the hidden platform in the water maze revealed that ENR facilitated task acquisition by increasing the probability to use effective search strategies. ENR also enhanced the animals’ behavioral flexibility, when the escape platform was moved to a new location. Treatment with temozolomide, which is known to reduce adult neurogenesis, abolished the effects of ENR on both acquisition and flexibility, while leaving other aspects of water maze learning untouched. These characteristic effects and interdependencies were not seen in parallel experiments with voluntary wheel running (RUN), a second pro‐neurogenic behavioral stimulus. Since the histological assessment of adult neurogenesis is by necessity an end‐point measure, the levels of neurogenesis over the course of the experiment can only be inferred and the present study focused on behavioral parameters as analytical endpoints. Although the correlation of physical activity with precursor cell proliferation and of learning and the survival of new neurons is well established, how the specific functional effects described here relate to dynamic changes in the stem cell niche remains to be addressed. Nevertheless, our findings support the hypothesis that adult neurogenesis is a critical mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of leading an active live, rich in experiences. © 2015 The Authors Hippocampus Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
hippocampus
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neurogenesis
physiology [Hippocampus]
Water maze
Stimulus (physiology)
Hippocampal formation
Environment
memory
03 medical and health sciences
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
physiology [Maze Learning]
stem cells
Learning
Animals
ddc:610
physiology [Learning]
Maze Learning
Beneficial effects
Research Articles
Environmental enrichment
exercise
Age Factors
physiology [Neurogenesis]
Mice, Inbred C57BL
030104 developmental biology
Wheel running
Escape platform
plasticity
cytology [Hippocampus]
environmental enrichment
Female
Psychology
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Hippocampus 26(2), 261-271 (2015). doi:10.1002/hipo.22520, Hippocampus
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....987b01aef438f4bc43503ae4a7f796b7