The Effects of Enriched Environment on Cognitive performance of Maternally Separated Male Rats

Background and Aim : As maternal care is an important factor that affects cognitive performance later in life, researchers have been focused on the effects of maternal care adversity on various brain aspects. Maternal separation (MS) is an appropriate paradigm to study the effects of interruption in mother-infant relationship. Since positive experiences could reverse stress-induced impairments, we utilized enriched environment (EE) as a probable therapy to reverse detrimental effects of MS.Methods : Rat pups underwent MS for 180 min/day from postnatal day (PND) 1-21. The EE paradigm was used after weaning (PND 22-34). Experimental groups (control, MS and enrichment groups) were assessed for learning, memory, locomotor activity and social interaction at PND 35 (adolescence).Results : MS caused a significant impairment in spatial learning and memory, less locomotor activity and more anxiety in open field and impaired social interaction at adolescence. Meanwhile, MS didn’t induce recognition memory impairment in novel object recognition task. EE reversed MS-induced impairments.Conclusion : We concluded that EE could be considered as a supplementary therapeutic strategy in promoting cognitive function.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cognition ، Maternal separation ، Enriched environment ، Adolescence