Environmental enrichment during early rearing provokes epigenetic changes in the brain of a salmonid fish

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 100838
Author(s):  
Stefan Reiser ◽  
Dominique Marie Pohlmann ◽  
Tina Blancke ◽  
Udo Koops ◽  
Jochen Trautner
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Salmonid Fish ◽  
Epigenetic Changes ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Early Rearing

scholarly journals Exercise Ameliorates Spinal Cord Injury by Changing DNA Methylation

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Ganchimeg Davaa ◽  
Jin Young Hong ◽  
Tae Uk Kim ◽  
Seong Jae Lee ◽  
Seo Young Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Functional Recovery ◽  
Treadmill Exercise ◽  
Exercise Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Epigenetic Changes ◽  
Cord Injury ◽  
The Brain

Exercise training is a traditional method to maximize remaining function in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), but the exact mechanism by which exercise promotes recovery after SCI has not been identified; whether exercise truly has a beneficial effect on SCI also remains unclear. Previously, we showed that epigenetic changes in the brain motor cortex occur after SCI and that a treatment leading to epigenetic modulation effectively promotes functional recovery after SCI. We aimed to determine how exercise induces functional improvement in rats subjected to SCI and whether epigenetic changes are engaged in the effects of exercise. A spinal cord contusion model was established in rats, which were then subjected to treadmill exercise for 12 weeks. We found that the size of the lesion cavity and the number of macrophages were decreased more in the exercise group than in the control group after 12 weeks of injury. Immunofluorescence and DNA dot blot analysis revealed that levels of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in the brain motor cortex were increased after exercise. Accordingly, the expression of ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family members (Tet1, Tet2, and Tet3) in the brain motor cortex also elevated. However, no macrophage polarization was induced by exercise. Locomotor function, including Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) and ladder scores, also improved in the exercise group compared to the control group. We concluded that treadmill exercise facilitates functional recovery in rats with SCI, and mechanistically epigenetic changes in the brain motor cortex may contribute to exercise-induced improvements.

scholarly journals Effect of Environmental Enrichment on the Brain and on Learning and Cognition by Animals

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 973
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Zentall
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Behavioral Effect ◽  
Enriched Environment ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Accurate Assessment ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Complex Tasks ◽  
Learning And Cognition ◽  
The Brain

The humane treatment of animals suggests that they should be housed in an environment that is rich in stimulation and allows for varied activities. However, even if one’s main concern is an accurate assessment of their learning and cognitive abilities, housing them in an enriched environment can have an important effect on the assessment of those abilities. Research has found that the development of the brain of animals is significantly affected by the environment in which they live. Not surprisingly, their ability to learn both simple and complex tasks is affected by even modest time spent in an enriched environment. In particular, animals that are housed in an enriched environment are less impulsive and make more optimal choices than animals housed in isolation. Even the way that they judge the passage of time is affected by their housing conditions. Some researchers have even suggested that exposing animals to an enriched environment can make them more “optimistic” in how they treat ambiguous stimuli. Whether that behavioral effect reflects the subtlety of differences in optimism/pessimism or something simpler, like differences in motivation, incentive, discriminability, or neophobia, it is clear that the conditions of housing can have an important effect on the learning and cognition of animals.

scholarly journals Early environmental enrichment and impoverishment differentially affect addiction-related behavioral traits, cocaine-taking, and dopamine D2/3 receptor signaling in a rat model of vulnerability to drug abuse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Bellés ◽  
Andrea Dimiziani ◽  
François R. Herrmann ◽  
Nathalie Ginovart
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Photon Emission ◽  
Emission Computed Tomography ◽  
Novelty Preference ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Rearing Environment ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Da Release ◽  
Early Rearing

Abstract Rationale Risk factors for drug addiction include genetics, environment, and behavioral traits such as impulsivity and novelty preference (NP), which have been related to deficits in striatal dopamine (DA) D2/3-receptors (D2/3R) and heightened amphetamine (AMPH)-induced DA release. However, the influence of the early rearing environment on these behavioral and neurochemical variables is not clear. Objectives We investigated the influence of early rearing environment on striatal D2/3R availabilities and AMPH-induced DA release in relation to impulsivity, NP, and propensity to drug self-administration (SA) in “addiction-prone” Roman high- (RHA) and “addiction-resistant” Roman low-avoidance (RLA) rats. Methods Animals were reared post-weaning in either environmental enrichment (EE) or impoverishment (EI) and were assessed at adulthood for impulsivity, NP, and propensity to cocaine SA. EE and EI rats were also scanned using single-photon emission computed tomography to concurrently measure in vivo striatal D2/3R availability and AMPH-induced DA release. Results EE vs. EI was associated with heightened impulsivity and a lack of NP in both rat lines. Higher dorsal striatal D2/3R densities were found in RHA EE and higher AMPH-induced DA release in RLA EE. Both impulsivity and NP were negatively correlated to dorsal striatal D2/3R availabilities and positively correlated with AMPH-induced DA release in EI but not in EE. EE vs. EI was related to a faster rate of cocaine intake and elevated active timeout responses in RHAs. Conclusion Our results suggest non-monotonic, environment-dependent, relationships between impulsivity, NP, and D2/3R-mediated signaling, and suggest that EI vs. EE may decrease the reinforcing effects of psychostimulants in predisposed individuals.

scholarly journals Changes in Structural and Functional Plasticity of the Brain Induced by Environmental Enrichment

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu.K. Komleva ◽  
◽  
A.B. Salmina ◽  
S.V. Prokopenko ◽  
L.A. Shestakova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Functional Plasticity ◽  
The Brain

Epigenetic changes in frontal lobe of the brain with pre- and perinatal exposure to flame retardant BDE-47

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (1) ◽  
pp. 5215
Author(s):  
Hyang-Min Byun ◽  
Larissa Takser ◽  
Maria Chiara Frisardi ◽  
Elena Colicino ◽  
Andrea A Baccarelli
Keyword(s):  
Flame Retardant ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Perinatal Exposure ◽  
Epigenetic Changes ◽  
The Brain

Environmental enrichment, prefrontal cortex, stress, and aging of the brain

2009 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1007-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregorio Segovia ◽  
Alberto del Arco ◽  
Francisco Mora
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Assessment of DNA Methylation and Oxidative Changes in the Heart and Brain of Rats Receiving a High-Fat Diet Supplemented with Various Forms of Chromium

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1470
Author(s):  
Wojciech Dworzański ◽  
Ewelina Cholewińska ◽  
Bartosz Fotschki ◽  
Jerzy Juśkiewicz ◽  
Piotr Listos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
High Fat Diet ◽  
Protein Carbonyl ◽  
Global Dna Methylation ◽  
Standard Diet ◽  
Epigenetic Changes ◽  
Oxidation Reactions ◽  
High Fat ◽  
Repair Enzymes ◽  
The Brain

The aim of the study was to determine how feeding rats a high-fat diet supplemented with various forms of chromium affects DNA methylation and oxidation reactions as well as the histology of heart and brain tissue. The rats received standard diet or high-fat diet and chromium at 0.3 mg/kg body weight (BW) in form of chromium (III) picolinate, chromium (III)-methionine, or nano-sized chromium. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC), and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHDG), the level of global DNA methylation and the activity of selected DNA repair enzymes were determined in the blood. In the brain and heart, the content of MDA, PC, 8-OHDG, and levels of global DNA methylation were determined. The brain was subjected to histological examination. The use of a high-fat diet was found to intensify epigenetic changes and oxidation reactions in the heart and brain. It was concluded that epigenetic changes and oxidation of lipids, proteins, and DNA in the heart and brain of rats resulting from the use of a high-fat diet cannot be limited by supplementing the diet with chromium. It was established that the use of chromium to supplement a high-fat diet intensifies the negative epigenetic and oxidative changes in the heart and brain, especially in the case of chromium nanoparticles.

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