Sex differences in effects of environmental stimulation on brain weight of previously undernourished rats

Environmental Enrichment Enhances Cerebellar Compensation and Develops Cerebellar Reserve

The brain is able to change its structure and function in response to environmental stimulations. Several human and animal studies have documented that enhanced stimulations provide individuals with strengthened brain structure and function that allow them to better cope with damage. In this framework, studies based on the exposure of animals to environmental enrichment (EE) have provided indications of the mechanisms involved in such a beneficial action. The cerebellum is a very plastic brain region that responds to every experience with deep structural and functional rearrangement. The present review specifically aims to collect and synthesize the evidence provided by animal models on EE exposure effects on cerebellar structure and function by considering the studies on healthy subjects and on animals exposed to EE both before and after damage involving cerebellar functionality. On the whole, the evidence supports the role of EE in enhancing cerebellar compensation and developing cerebellar reserve. However, since studies addressing this issue are still scarce, large areas of inconsistency and lack of clarity remain. Further studies are required to provide suggestions on possible mechanisms of enhancement of compensatory responses in human patients following cerebellar damage.

Behavioral consequences of postnatal undernutrition and enriched environment during later life

In rat models, large litter groups during suckling are used in the study of undernutrition. Large litter sizes are known to promote alterations in memory processes and anxiety-like behavior. Nevertheless, the effect of large litter size on sexual behavior and the reproductive system is still unknown. Environmental enrichment has been reported to (EE) enhance behavior and to correct some of the alterations produced by postnatal undernutrition. We used the Elevated Plus Maze (EPN), Morris Water Maze (MWM), Object Recognition test (OR) and several parameters of sexual behavior to determine the effect of large litter size on rats exposed to enriched and non-enriched environments. Newborn Wistar rats of both sexes were assigned to be suckled under lactation conditions, in litters of 8 pups or 16 pups. The large litter size (16 pups) caused a reduction in weight gain during the lactation period. On PND 45, four experimental groups were established for both sexes: Well-nourished Non-enriched (WN); Well-nourished Enriched (WE); undernourished Non-enriched (UN); Undernourished Enriched (UE). On PND 90, the UN males spent more time in the open arms on EPM. On PND 100, the UE females increased the latency to find the platform in training days (D1-4) in MWM. On probe day (D5) the UE males spent more time in the target quadrants in MWM. On PND 110, irrespective of EE the large litter size had increased the exploration time in both groups (UN) and (UE) in OR test. On PND 120, the performance of sexual behavior was more evident by effect of EE irrespective of the litter size. In conclusion, the large litter size showed no effects on sexual behavior, in contrast, EE has a sharp influence on sexual behavior. Conversely, memory processes and anxiety-like behavior are altered by large litter size.

Interaction between pre-weaning undernutrition and post-weaning environmental enrichment on somatic development and behaviour in male and female rats

Male and female rats were undernourished from birth to 30 days by restricting access to the lactating mother, and then fed ad libitum. At weaning, underfed and normally suckled controls were permanently housed either in pairs in standard cages or in groups of 10 in 1 m(3) cages containing ladders, ropes etc. Severe undernutrition during suckling followed by 4 months of refeeding, produced some changes in sexual behaviour in adult males (increased ejaculation frequency) but had no effect on behaviour in open field, dark preference or passive avoidance. Differential post-weaning environment produced significant differences in behaviour, irrespective of previous feeding conditions. Enriched animals were more active and exploratory. Females differed from males in the same direction as enriched from standard, and were more responsive to social and housing conditions.

Effects of environmental enrichment on sensitivity to mu, kappa, and mixed-action opioids in female rats

Several studies report that environmental enrichment enhances sensitivity to opioid receptor agonists in male rats. Very few studies have examined the effects of enrichment in female rats, and thus it is not clear whether females are similarly sensitive to these effects. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of environmental enrichment on sensitivity to representative mu, kappa, and mixed-action opioids in female rats. Following a protocol established in males, females were obtained at weaning and randomly assigned to two groups immediately upon arrival: isolated rats were housed individually with no visual or tactile contact with other rats; enriched rats were housed in groups of four in large cages and given various novel objects on a regular basis. After 6 weeks under these conditions, the antinociceptive effects of mu (morphine, levorphanol), kappa (spiradoline, U69,593), and mixed-action (buprenorphine, butorphanol) opioids were examined in a warm-water, tail-withdrawal procedure. All the opioids examined produced dose-dependent increases in antinociception; however, no differences in opioid sensitivity were observed between the two groups. To determine whether these findings were consistent across behavioral endpoints, the antidiuretic effects of representative mu opioids, and the diuretic effects of representative kappa opioids, were examined in female rats reared under isolated or enriched conditions for 10 weeks. Similar to that seen in the antinociceptive experiment, no significant differences in opioid sensitivity were observed between groups. These data indicate that environmental enrichment does not alter sensitivity to the effects of opioid receptor agonists in female rats, and suggest that females may respond differently to environmental enrichment than males.

Prenatal cocaine, alcohol, and undernutrition differentially alter mineral and protein content in fetal rats

Alcohol exposure and undernutrition during pregnancy have been associated with altered fetal body composition. Recent observations suggest that cocaine exposure during pregnancy may impair delivery of nutrients to the fetus and could thereby alter body growth and composition. Such effects are important because they can adversely influence physical and neural development. Consequently, we investigated the dose-dependent effects of cocaine on fetal body composition in an animal (rat) model and compared such effects with those caused by prenatal alcohol exposure and undernutrition. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats received either 20, 30, 40, or 50 mg/kg cocaine HCl (SC) twice daily from gestation days 7 through 19. Pair-fed (undernutrition) and untreated control groups and a group receiving 3.0 g/kg alcohol (PO) twice daily served as comparison groups (n = 11 to 14/group). Females were sacrificed on gestation day 20. One male and one female fetus was removed from each dam. The fetuses were minced, dehydrated, defatted, and analyzed for content of protein and the minerals Zn, Ca, Fe, Mg, K, and Na. In terms of concentration per unit of fat-free dry solids, male fetuses in the cocaine groups showed significant decreases in protein compared to untreated controls (15+/-3 to 20+/-2 mg/g vs. 24+/-4 mg/g, p = 0.01). There was a significant treatment effect for Ca (p < 0.05), reflecting a trend for decreased Ca concentrations in the fetuses of the cocaine and undernutrition groups. Male fetuses in the alcohol group had significantly elevated Mg levels compared to male fetuses in the other groups (3.0+/-0.8 vs. 1.0+/-0.2 to 2.3+/-0.7 mg/g, p < 0.05). There were some sex differences, with female fetuses having significantly lower concentrations of Mg, Fe, K, and higher protein concentrations than male fetuses. Although the effects were few and modest, these results suggest that prenatal cocaine, alcohol, and undernutrition can differentially alter fetal body weight and composition and, therefore, adversely influence fetal development.

Effects of environmental enrichment on cortical depth and Morris-maze performance in B6D2F2 mice exposed prenatally to ethanol

Pregnant mice were fed a liquid diet with 25% of the calories as ethanol from day 5 to 17 of gestation; controls received equivalent amounts of diet with maltose-dextrin substituted isocalorically for the ethanol. Two male weanlings from each litter were assigned randomly to an enriched or isolated environmental condition. After 6 weeks in these environments measures of brain growth were obtained, including thickness of frontal, parietal, and occipital cortex (study 1), or their behavioral capabilities were assessed in a Morris water maze (study 2). Ethanol decreased birth weight (both studies), postweaning body weight (study 2), and brain weight (study 1), while the enriched animals in both studies were heavier. Ethanol decreased the thickness of the occipital cortex only. All groups demonstrated learning by showing a decrease in latency to locate the hidden platform over the 5 days of testing; this was supported by their spending most time in the target quadrant during the probe trial. The latencies of the enriched animals were shorter than the isolated; covariance analysis indicated that this was not due solely to their faster swimming speed.

Easter Islander palmar dermatoglyphics: sexual dimorphism, bilateral asymmetry, and family polymorphism

The palmar prints of 297 male and female Easter Islanders were analyzed according to the Penrose and Loesch topological classification system. While the frequencies of most pattern elements were not found to differ significantly between the sexes, the placement of the axial triradius was found to be highly significant (P less than 0.01). Both males and females were found to exhibit considerable bilateral asymmetry in the a-b count and in the atd angle, but there was no significant difference between the sexes in the amount of asymmetry expressed. Family data for a small subset of the sample (51 individuals) were subjected to further statistical analysis, from which significant results (P less than 0.05) were obtained both on chi-square tests for frequency of pattern elements and ANOVA tests for a-b counts, atd angle, and A-line exit. The implications of these results are considered from a developmental perspective. It is suggested that a particular pattern combination (termed a formula) could be used to represent a default value and that other formulae might then be considered as deviations from this default value. Such variation, theoretically at least, might be traced to genetic influences or to the embryological environment present during the time of dermatoglyphic formation.

Sex differences in the dendritic branching of dentate granule cells following differential experience

Male and female hooded rats were raised from weaning in either a complex or an isolated environment in two separate replications. After one month, the brains were Golgi-Cox stained and dendritic fields of dentate gyrus granule cells were quantified. There was a sex difference in response to the environment. Females raised in the complex environment had more dendrite per neuron than females from the isolated environment in both replications. This difference was evident chiefly in the length of dendritic branches. Males showed few differences in response to the environments in either replication and, to the extent that there were differences, there was a slight tendency for isolated males to have more dendrite per neuron than males from the complex environment. In comparisons between the sexes within an environment, males had more dendritic material per neuron than females in the isolated environment while females had a larger dendritic tree than males in the complex environment. The above pattern of differences was not altered when hemisphere or location of the cell body within the granule cell layer were taken into account, although the shape of the dendritic tree varied with the cell's position in the layer in all groups. Thus, females show greater structural change in the dentate granule cells in response to these environments than do males.

Sex differences in dendritic response to differential experience in the rat visual cortex

Male and female hooded rats were raised from weaning in either a complex or an isolated environment. After one month, the visual cortex was Golgi-Cox-stained and layers III and V pyramidal and layer IV stellate neurons were quantified: (1) analyses of dendritic branch numbers and total dendritic length revealed that females exhibited smaller differences in response to the rearing environment than males in both apical oblique and basilar branches of layer III pyramidal neurons; (2) a similar but much weaker trend towards a sex by environment interaction was seen in layer IV stellate neurons, while in layer V pyramidal neurons the sexes showed equal amounts of dendritic response; (3) the terminal dendrites in every cell population were longer in the rats from the complex environment regardless of sex; (4) males had longer terminal branches in both environments in layer IV stellates and layer V lower apical oblique branches. Thus the sex differences that appeared across environments were small. The more prominent sex differences were seen when the rearing environment was varied, with females showing less susceptibility to environmental influences in some neuronal populations.

Differential rearing affects responsiveness of rats to depressant and convulsant drugs

The effects of postweaning housing in environmental complexity (EC) or isolation cage (IC) conditions upon the development of anesthesia following sodium pentobarbital administration and upon seizure susceptibility following metrazol administration were studied in separate groups of rats. Male and female EC rats lost the righting reflex and developed unconsciousness more rapidly following sodium pentobarbital injection (105 mg/kg, IP) than did littermate IC rats. Male EC and IC rats did not differ in the CD50 (50% convulsion dosage by log probit analysis) following injection of a range of metrazol doses (20 to 35 mg/kg, IP) when they were kept in a quiet dimly lighted room. However, the addition of stroboscopic light stimulation (1-100 Hz) to the above procedure (doses 17.5 to 30 mg/kg) reduced the CD50 for the IC rats but did not affect the CD50 for the EC rats. The results support the view that brain excitability is lower in animals reared in environments providing higher levels of sensory stimulation.

The comparative effects of early-life undernutrition and subsequent differential environments on the dendritic branching of pyramidal cells in rat visual cortex

Male rats were either undernourished or fed normally from birth to day 21, after which time food was made freely available. At 1 month of age littermate pairs from both nutritional groups were housed in either enriched or impoverished conditions for 30 days and then killed for brain measurements. Significant deficits due to undernutrition were observed in the weight and size of the cerebrum, but not in the thickness or area of the visual cortex. Although there were large differences of between 21 and 39% in the number of higher-order basal dendrites of layers II and III pyramidal cells, and of about 19% in the distal ring intersections, none except the fourth-order branches and intersections at 100 micron from the cell body approached statistical significance. Changes in cerebral weight and size also occurred as a result of differential housing, with the enriched rats showing increased values relative to their impoverished littermates. In contrast to the nutritional treatment, differential housing significantly affected cortical thickness and area, as well as basal dendritic branching of the pyramidal cells. Enriched rats had relative increases of 26% in the number of fifth-order branches and 45-80% in the number of distal ring intersections.

Pharmacological suppression of REM sleep prior to weaning counteracts the effectiveness of subsequent environmental enrichment on cortical growth in rats

Male Wistar rat pups were deprived of REM sleep by means of daily injections of clonidine between 8 and 21 days after birth. From day 28 they were reared under either 'enriched' or 'standard' environmental conditions. At 75 days of age the animals were sacrificed, and the regional brain weights were compared with two (differentially reared) control groups. Whereas cortical weight was greater in the enriched than in the standard control rats, no differences were found between the corresponding REM sleep-deprived (i.e. clonidine-treated) groups. These results suggest that REM sleep deprivation and/or disturbances of central noradrenergic function during early development can counteract growth responses of the brain to environmental stimulation later in life.

The separate and combined effects of early undernutrition and environmental complexity at different ages on cerebral measures in rats

Rats were either undernourished or fed normally during the suckling period, then at 1 and 5 months of age littermates were housed in enriched or impoverished environments for 30 days. The undernutrition caused lasting reductions in the weight and size of the cerebrum and in parameters of the hippocampus, but significant deficits were not observed in the thickness and area of the occipital cortex. Differential housing differed from early undernutrition in that its largest effects were on cortical parameters, but the effects of the two conditions did partly overlap. This meant that some nutritionally induced deficits could be modified later by manipulating environmental complexity. The cerebral response of the previously undernourished rats to differential environments was not distinguishable from that of well-fed controls on the basis of the gross anatomical changes that were measured. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between the environmental effects in young and mature rats, although the latter's response tended to be somewhat less for most parameters.