Age-dependent effects of environmental enrichment on spatial reference memory in male mice. Behav Brain Res 2007 Dec 11;185(1):43-8
Date
08/21/2007Pubmed ID
17707521Pubmed Central ID
PMC2603144DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2007.07.009Scopus ID
2-s2.0-35148819275 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 96 CitationsAbstract
Although environmental enrichment has been shown to improve various types of memory in young and aging mice, no study has directly compared the degree to which enrichment improves memory at different ages throughout the lifespan in male mice. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of long-term continuous enrichment in young (3 months), middle-aged (15 months), and aged (21 months) male C57BL/6 mice. Spatial reference memory was tested in the Morris water maze. Results demonstrate that 24h/day environmental enrichment for approximately 6 weeks significantly improved spatial memory in the Morris water maze in aged males, but not in young or middle-aged males. These data also indicate that 24h exposure to complex enriched housing conditions increases the magnitude of enrichment-induced improvements in memory among aged mice relative to those previously reported by this lab and others.
Author List
Harburger LL, Lambert TJ, Frick KMAuthor
Karyn Frick BA,MA,PhD Professor in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgingAnimals
Cues
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Environment
Male
Maze Learning
Memory
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Space Perception
Swimming
