Environmental Enrichment

Efficient, effective, reusable, and customizable social housing for chickens in the laboratory

The Iowa State University Laboratory Animal Resources Department needed caging specifically designed and purposed to socially house chickens in the laboratory. As indoor housing requests for chickens increased, the need for a dedicated caging system for chickens became a high...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Augustin, A. J., Crabbs, M. A., Sour, M. C. et al. 2020. Efficient, effective, reusable, and customizable social housing for chickens in the laboratory. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 56-58.

Enriched environment effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced spatial learning, memory impairment and hippocampal inflammatory cytokine levels in male rats

Neuro-inflammation is responsible for cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the enriched environment (EE) effect on learning and memory impairment as well as on pro-inflammatory cytokines changes induced by lipopolysaccharide...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Keymoradzadeh, A., Hedayati Ch, M., Abedinzade, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced spatial learning, memory impairment and hippocampal inflammatory cytokine levels in male rats. Behavioural Brain Research 394, 112814.

Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills

Although rarely used, long-term behavioral training protocols provide opportunities to shape complex skills in rodent laboratory investigations that incorporate cognitive, motor, visuospatial and temporal functions to achieve desired goals. In the current study, following preliminary research establishing that rats could...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Crawford, L. E., Knouse, L. E., Kent, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills. Behavioural Brain Research 378, 112309.

Enriched environments enhance cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of Sparus aurata

Environmental enrichment is considered as a recommended tool to guarantee or improve the welfare of captive fish. This study demonstrates for the first time that structural environmental enrichment enhances cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of gilthead seabream (Sparus...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Arechavala-Lopez, P., Caballero-Froilán, J. C., Jiménez-García, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environments enhance cognition, exploratory behaviour and brain physiological functions of Sparus aurata. Scientific Reports 10, 11252.

Enrichment preferences of singly housed zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Despite the increasing popularity of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an animal model, the environmental enrichment preferences of this species have been largely unexplored. We sought to determine the preferences of mature female zebrafish that were singly housed with or without...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Krueger, L. D., Thurston, S. E., Kirk, J. et al. 2020. Enrichment preferences of singly housed zebrafish (Danio rerio). JAALAS 59(2), 148–155.

Environmental enrichment rescues visually-mediated behavior in Ten-m3 knockout mice during an early critical period

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown to promote neural plasticity. Its capacity to induce functional repair in models which exhibit profound sensory deficits due to aberrant axonal guidance has not been well-characterized. Ten-m3 knockout (KO) mice exhibit a highly-stereotyped miswiring...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Blok, J., Black, D. A., Petersen, J. et al. 2020. Environmental enrichment rescues visually-mediated behavior in Ten-m3 knockout mice during an early critical period. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 22.

Evaluation of cotton dental rolls as environmental enrichment for mice

Historically, we provided 2 compressed cotton squares for nesting and enrichment. The logistics of managing nesting material distribution, disposal, and costs are major considerations for our program, which provides husbandry to approximately 60,000 rodent cages weekly. We identified cotton dental...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Rodgers, J. C., Ricart Arbona, R. J., Lieggi, C. et al. 2020. Evaluation of cotton dental rolls as environmental enrichment for mice. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 70-71.

Early and later life environmental enrichment affect specific antibody responses and blood leukocyte subpopulations in pigs

This study addressed the impact of early and later life environmental enrichment, and their combination, on specific antibody responses and peripheral blood leukocyte subpopulations in pigs. Pigs were kept in either barren (B1) or enriched (E1) housing from birth, and...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Luo, L., Jansen, C. A., Bolhuis, J. E. et al. 2020. Early and later life environmental enrichment affect specific antibody responses and blood leukocyte subpopulations in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 217, 112799.

Effect of a partial cage dividing enrichment on aggression-associated parameters in group-housed male C57BL/6NCrl mice

Group-housing is highly important for social animals. Group-housing of male mice in captivity though often leads to aggression with partially disastrous consequences for the animals as well as for the quality of experimental data. In this study we investigated the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Mertens, S., Gass, P., Palme, R. et al. 2020. Effect of a partial cage dividing enrichment on aggression-associated parameters in group-housed male C57BL/6NCrl mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 224, 104939.

Foraging enrichment alleviates oral repetitive behaviors in captive red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii)

The relationship between inadequate foraging opportunities and the expression of oral repetitive behaviors has been well documented in many production animal species. However, this relationship has been less-well examined in zoo-housed animals, particularly avian species. The expression of oral repetitive...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Parrot

Citation: Fangmeier, M. L., Burns, A. L., Melfi, V. A. et al. 2020. Foraging enrichment alleviates oral repetitive behaviors in captive red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii). Zoo Biology 39(1), 3-12.