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 Virtual reality video game improves high-fidelity memory in older adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Wais ◽  
Melissa Arioli ◽  
Roger Anguera-Singla ◽  
Adam Gazzaley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Cognitive Intervention ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Placebo Control ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
High Fidelity

AbstractTherapeutic interventions have not yet been shown to demonstrate restorative effects for declining long-term memory (LTM) that affects many healthy older adults. We developed a virtual reality (VR) spatial wayfinding game (Labyrinth-VR) as a cognitive intervention with the hypothesis that it could improve detailed, high-fidelity LTM capability. Spatial navigation tasks have been used as a means to achieve environmental enrichment via exposure to and learning about novel and complex information. Engagement has been shown to enhance learning and has been linked to the vitality of the LTM system in the brain. In the current study, 48 older adults (mean age 68.7 ± 6.4 years) with average cognitive abilities for their age were randomly assigned to 12 h of computer game play over four weeks in either the Labyrinth-VR or placebo control game arms. Promptly before and after each participant’s treatment regimen, high-fidelity LTM outcome measures were tested to assess mnemonic discrimination and other memory measures. The results showed a post-treatment gain in high-fidelity LTM capability for the Labyrinth-VR arm, relative to placebo, which reached the levels attained by younger adults in another experiment. This novel finding demonstrates generalization of benefits from the VR wayfinding game to important, and untrained, LTM capabilities. These cognitive results are discussed in the light of relevant research for hippocampal-dependent memory functions.

A bigger brain for a more complex environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 803-816
Author(s):  
Umberto di Porzio
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
Birth Canal ◽  
Newborn Brain ◽  
Neuronal Interactions ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe environment increased complexity required more neural functions to develop in the hominin brains, and the hominins adapted to the complexity by developing a bigger brain with a greater interconnection between its parts. Thus, complex environments drove the growth of the brain. In about two million years during hominin evolution, the brain increased three folds in size, one of the largest and most complex amongst mammals, relative to body size. The size increase has led to anatomical reorganization and complex neuronal interactions in a relatively small skull. At birth, the human brain is only about 20% of its adult size. That facilitates the passage through the birth canal. Therefore, the human brain, especially cortex, develops postnatally in a rich stimulating environment with continuous brain wiring and rewiring and insertion of billions of new neurons. One of the consequence is that in the newborn brain, neuroplasticity is always turned “on” and it remains active throughout life, which gave humans the ability to adapt to complex and often hostile environments, integrate external experiences, solve problems, elaborate abstract ideas and innovative technologies, store a lot of information. Besides, hominins acquired unique abilities as music, language, and intense social cooperation. Overwhelming ecological, social, and cultural challenges have made the human brain so unique. From these events, as well as the molecular genetic changes that took place in those million years, under the pressure of natural selection, derive the distinctive cognitive abilities that have led us to complex social organizations and made our species successful.

scholarly journals BDNF haploinsufficiency induces behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia in male mice that are rescued by enriched environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Harb ◽  
Justina Jagusch ◽  
Archana Durairaja ◽  
Thomas Endres ◽  
Volkmar Leßmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prepulse Inhibition ◽  
Sensorimotor Gating ◽  
Enriched Environment ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Mature Adult ◽  
Attentional Set ◽  
Attentional Set Shifting ◽  
The Brain

AbstractBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in a number of processes that are crucial for healthy functioning of the brain. Schizophrenia is associated with low BDNF levels in the brain and blood, however, not much is known about BDNF’s role in the different symptoms of schizophrenia. Here, we used BDNF-haploinsufficient (BDNF+/−) mice to investigate the role of BDNF in different mouse behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Furthermore, we assessed if an enriched environment can prevent the observed changes. In this study, male mature adult wild-type and BDNF+/− mice were tested in mouse paradigms for cognitive flexibility (attentional set shifting), sensorimotor gating (prepulse inhibition), and associative emotional learning (safety and fear conditioning). Before these tests, half of the mice had a 2-month exposure to an enriched environment, including running wheels. After the tests, BDNF brain levels were quantified. BDNF+/− mice had general deficits in the attentional set-shifting task, increased startle magnitudes, and prepulse inhibition deficits. Contextual fear learning was not affected but safety learning was absent. Enriched environment housing completely prevented the observed behavioral deficits in BDNF+/− mice. Notably, the behavioral performance of the mice was negatively correlated with BDNF protein levels. These novel findings strongly suggest that decreased BDNF levels are associated with several behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Furthermore, an enriched environment increases BDNF protein to wild-type levels and is thereby able to rescue these behavioral endophenotypes.

Central Auditory Processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef P. Rauschecker
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Auditory Perception ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Central Auditory Processing ◽  
Visible Part ◽  
Auditory Object ◽  
Mother’S Voice ◽  
The Brain

When one talks about hearing, some may first imagine the auricle (or external ear), which is the only visible part of the auditory system in humans and other mammals. Its shape and size vary among people, but it does not tell us much about a person’s abilities to hear (except perhaps their ability to localize sounds in space, where the shape of the auricle plays a certain role). Most of what is used for hearing is inside the head, particularly in the brain. The inner ear transforms mechanical vibrations into electrical signals; then the auditory nerve sends these signals into the brainstem, where intricate preprocessing occurs. Although auditory brainstem mechanisms are an important part of central auditory processing, it is the processing taking place in the cerebral cortex (with the thalamus as the mediator), which enables auditory perception and cognition. Human speech and the appreciation of music can hardly be imagined without a complex cortical network of specialized regions, each contributing different aspects of auditory cognitive abilities. During the evolution of these abilities in higher vertebrates, especially birds and mammals, the cortex played a crucial role, so a great deal of what is referred to as central auditory processing happens there. Whether it is the recognition of one’s mother’s voice, listening to Pavarotti singing or Yo-Yo Ma playing the cello, hearing or reading Shakespeare’s sonnets, it will evoke electrical vibrations in the auditory cortex, but it does not end there. Large parts of frontal and parietal cortex receive auditory signals originating in auditory cortex, forming processing streams for auditory object recognition and auditory-motor control, before being channeled into other parts of the brain for comprehension and enjoyment.

Morphometry in schizophrenia revisited: height and its relationship to pre-morbid function

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. NOPOULOS ◽  
M. FLAUM ◽  
S. ARNDT ◽  
N. ANDREASEN
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Adjustment ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The Body ◽  
Abnormal Development ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Lower Quartile ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

Background. Morphometry, the measurement of forms, is an ancient practice. In particular, schizophrenic somatology was popular early in this century, but has been essentially absent from the literature for over 30 years. More recently, evidence has grown to support the notion that aberrant neurodevelopment may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Is the body, like the brain, affected by abnormal development in these patients?Methods. To evaluate global deficit in development and its relationship to pre-morbid function, height was compared in a large group (N=226) of male schizophrenics and a group of healthy male controls (N=142) equivalent in parental socio-economic status. Patients in the lower quartile of height were compared to those in the upper quartile of height.Results. The patient group had a mean height of 177·1 cm, which was significantly shorter than the mean height of the control group of 179·4 (P<0·003). Those in the lower quartile had significantly poorer pre-morbid function as measured by: (1) psychosocial adjustment using the pre-morbid adjustment scales for childhood and adolescence/young adulthood, and (2) cognitive function using measures of school performance such as grades and need for special education. In addition, these measures of pre-morbid function correlated significantly with height when analysed using the entire sample.Conclusions. These findings provide further support to the idea that abnormal development may play a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Furthermore, this is manifested as a global deficit in growth and function resulting in smaller stature, poorer social skills, and deficits in cognitive abilities.

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

scholarly journals Age - related behaviour on individually caged rabbits

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. KATSAROU (Α. ΚΑΤΣΑΡΟΥ) ◽  
A. TSIRONI (Α. ΤΣΙΡΩΝΗ) ◽  
M. SERAFETINIDOU (Μ. ΣΕΡΑΦΕΤΙΝΙΔΟΥ) ◽  
C. VOYAZAKI (Χ. ΒΟΓΙΑΤΖΑΚΗ) ◽  
V. BAUMANS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Enrichment Programs ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Enrichment Program ◽  
Group A

Housing conditions and environmental enrichment of individually caged laboratory rabbits is of great importance for the welfare of the animals and the quality of the experimental results. In order to improve the design of existing environmental enrichment programs for laboratory rabbits, considerable knowledge of the behavioural needs of this species is necessary. Taking this into consideration, the aim of this study was to monitor and analyze the behaviour of juvenile and young adult rabbits in order to establish whether there are any age-dependent differences in grooming, rearing, sniffing, eating, drinking and gnawing. 12 NZW rabbits were divided into two groups: group A consisted of six 6-month-old rabbits (young adults) and group Β consisted of six 2-month-old rabbits (juvenile). All animals were already housed for more than twenty days under the same conditions in the animal facility. Both groups of rabbits were video-recorded between 06:00h - 18:00h for four consecutive days. The frequency of each behaviour was determined and compared in the two groups of rabbits from the video recordings. The frequencies of grooming, eating and gnawing in the young rabbits were significantly greater than those in the older rabbits (p<0.05). No statistical differences were found between the two groups for rearing, sniffing and drinking. From these results, we concluded that even small age differences should be taken into account when designing an environmental enrichment program for individually caged rabbits.

scholarly journals Association of apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism with cognitive abilities variability of elderly people

2018 ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
А.В. Марусин ◽  
О.А. Макеева ◽  
К.В. Вагайцева ◽  
А.В. Бочарова ◽  
М.Г. Сваровская ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elderly People ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Natural Aging ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Protein Isoforms ◽  
Apolipoprotein E Gene ◽  
Median Test ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

Physiological changes in the brain with natural aging and the development of dementia have a common genetic basis, which makes it important to search for genetic variants that delineate the natural decline in cognitive abilities with age and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Objective: the search for the relationship between two polymorphic variants (rs429358 and rs7412) APOE gene and their protein isoforms (apoE) with the variability of cognitive functions in the elderly, determined by Montreal Cognitive Assessmnet (MoCA) total score. The study was performed on a group of 695 elderly people (177 men and 518 women) tested by a battery of MoCA tests. Genotyping was carried out by real-time PCR using TaqMan probes. The analysis of genotypic variability associations with the nominal trait was performed by the Kruskel-Wallis and the median test nonparametric methods.It was shown that the rs429358*C allele carriers and protein isoforms e4/e4+e2/e4+e3/e4 carriers in comparison with the e3/e3 homozygous have the greatest risk of decreased cognitive abilities in old age (OR (95% CI) was 1.51 (1.09 - 2.10), c = 6.66, p = 0.01 and OR = 1.64, 95% CI (1.11 - 2.44), c = 6.76, p = 0.009, respectively). Probably, the revealed associations indicate to the presence of common genes and mechanisms for dementia and intellect with normal variability of cognitive functions inheritance.

scholarly journals Possible Effect of Headphone Usage on Working Memory Among Students in Faculty of Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria‒Nigeria

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Yushau Yusuf ◽  
Muhammad U.A ◽  
Isah F.A
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Signal Processing ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Stored Information ◽  
Age Range ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Back Task

Working memory is a system that is responsible for transient holding and processing of new and already stored information. It also involves processing for reasoning, comprehension, learning and memory updating. Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers that are designed to be held in place close to a user’s ear. They are electroacoustic transducers which convert electrical signals to a corresponding sound in the user’s ear. Several studies have recently shown a link between cognitive abilities and response to hearing aid and signal processing in the brain. Therefore, the relationship between headphone usage among healthy subjects become pertinent. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of headphone on working memory using N-back task. One hundred (100) participants (55 headphone users and 45 non-headphone user’s) within the age range of 18-31 years were assessed. Participants were instructed to keep in memory, a series of letters and say “target” whenever there was a repetition of letter with exactly one intervening letter and to remain silent when any other letter appeared. The results of this study showed that there was no statistically significant difference in working memory between headphone and non-headphone users with p>0.05. In conclusion, this study revealed headphone use has no effect on working memory of the participants subjected to N–back test.

Amyloid Beta

2019 ◽  
pp. 235-251
Author(s):  
Abhinav Anand ◽  
Neha Sharma ◽  
Monica Gulati ◽  
Navneet Khurana
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Beta ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Proteolytic Enzymes ◽  
Ubiquitin Proteasome System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Ubiquitin Proteasome ◽  
Causes Of Deaths ◽  
Brain Acetylcholine ◽  
The Brain

Alzheimer's disease (AD), exhibiting accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide as a foremost protagonist, is one of the top five causes of deaths. It is a neurodegenerative disorder (ND) that causes a progressive decline in memory and cognitive abilities. It is characterized by deposition of Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the neurons, which in turn causes a decline in the brain acetylcholine levels. Aβ hypothesis is the most accepted hypothesis pertaining to the pathogenesis of AD. Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) is constitutively present in brain and it is cleaved by three proteolytic enzymes (i.e., alpha, beta, and gamma secretases). Beta and gamma secretases cleave APP to form Aβ. Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS) is involved in the clearing of Aβ plaques. AD also involves impairment in UPS. The novel disease-modifying approaches involve inhibition of beta and gamma secretases. A number of clinical trials are going on worldwide with moieties targeting beta and gamma secretases. This chapter deals with an overview of APP and its enzymatic cleavage leading to AD.

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