Environmental enrichment cognitive neuroprotection in an experimental model of cerebral ischemia: biochemical and molecular aspects.

Environmental enrichment cognitive neuroprotection in an experimental model of cerebral ischemia: biochemical and molecular aspects. Behav Brain Res. 2018 Apr 20;: Authors: Gonçalves LV, Herlinger AL, Ferreira TAA, Coitinho JB, Pires RGW, Martins-Silva C Abstract Stroke is considered a major cause of global morbidity. Currently, there are no effective treatments for post-stroke cognitive impairment. Enriched environment (EE) has been brought forward as a preconditioning method to induce cerebral tolerance in an ischemic event. However, the subjacent mechanisms involved in this tolerance are not yet clear. Herein we aimed to identify the mechanisms of neuroprotection triggered by EE preconditioning in a murine model of ischemic stroke. In order to do so, C57Bl/6 mice were kept for five weeks either in EE or in standard environment (SC) prior to ischemic injury through bilateral carotid occlusion (BCCAo) or sham surgery. To evaluate cognitive deficits resulting from ischemia, animals were subjected to a set of behavioral test to assess short-term (STM), long-term (LTM) and working memory (WM) performance. Despite no effect of EE having been observed in LTM and WM, EE preconditioning was able to prevent short-term deficits in response to ischemia. This improvement was accompanied by a reduction in the infarct volume in animals following EE pre-exposure. Next, we aimed to analyze the expression of genes involved in cholinergic (M1 and a...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research