Environmental enrichment protects against the effects of chronic stress on cognitive and morphological measures of hippocampal integrity

• Published in: Neurobiology of learning and memory Vol. 97; no. 2; pp. 250 - 260
• Main Authors: Hutchinson, Katie M., McLaughlin, Katie J., Wright, Ryan L., Bryce Ortiz, J., Anouti, Danya P., Mika, Agnieszka, Diamond, David M., Conrad, Cheryl D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.02.2012; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Animals; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition - physiology; Corticosterone - blood; Dendrites - physiology; Environment; Environmental enrichment; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - physiopathology; Housing, Animal; Male; Maze Learning - physiology; Morphology; Neurobiology; Neurons - physiology; Neuropsychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reference memory; Restraint, Physical; Spatial learning; Stress; Stress, Physiological - physiology; Stress, Psychological - physiopathology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Working memory; Reference memory; Working memory; Environmental enrichment; Hippocampus; Spatial learning; Stress; Central nervous system; Cognition; Space perception; Stimulating environment; Encephalon; Chronic; Acquisition process; Morphology; Perceptive learning

► Enriched environment (EE) attenuated spatial memory deficits after chronic stress. ► Spatial memory outcomes paralleled alterations in hippocampal dendritic complexity. ► EE restored corticosterone levels of chronically stressed rats to control levels. Chronic stress has detrimental effects on hip...