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The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour

The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these w...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: DePasquale, C., Neuberger, T., Hirrlinger, A. M., Braithwaite, V. A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4795028/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26817780
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2564
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author DePasquale, C.
Neuberger, T.
Hirrlinger, A. M.
Braithwaite, V. A.
author_facet DePasquale, C.
Neuberger, T.
Hirrlinger, A. M.
Braithwaite, V. A.
author_sort DePasquale, C.
collection PubMed
description The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these work independently or interact remains untested. To address this, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were reared in a two-by-two design in housing that varied in structural complexity and/or exposure to a stressor. Fish experiencing both complexity (enrichment objects changed over time) and mild stress (daily net chasing) exhibited enhanced learning and were less anxious when tested as juveniles (between 77 and 90 days). Adults tested (aged 1 year) were also less anxious even though fish were kept in standard housing after three months of age (i.e. no chasing or enrichment). Volumetric measures of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that complexity alone generated fish with a larger brain, but this increase in size was not seen in fish that experienced both complexity and chasing, or chasing alone. The results highlight the importance of looking at multiple variables simultaneously, and reveal differential effects of complexity and stressful experiences during development of the brain and behaviour.
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spelling pubmed-47950282016-03-18 The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour DePasquale, C. Neuberger, T. Hirrlinger, A. M. Braithwaite, V. A. Proc Biol Sci Research Articles The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these work independently or interact remains untested. To address this, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were reared in a two-by-two design in housing that varied in structural complexity and/or exposure to a stressor. Fish experiencing both complexity (enrichment objects changed over time) and mild stress (daily net chasing) exhibited enhanced learning and were less anxious when tested as juveniles (between 77 and 90 days). Adults tested (aged 1 year) were also less anxious even though fish were kept in standard housing after three months of age (i.e. no chasing or enrichment). Volumetric measures of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that complexity alone generated fish with a larger brain, but this increase in size was not seen in fish that experienced both complexity and chasing, or chasing alone. The results highlight the importance of looking at multiple variables simultaneously, and reveal differential effects of complexity and stressful experiences during development of the brain and behaviour. The Royal Society 2016-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4795028/ /pubmed/26817780 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2564 Text en © 2016 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
DePasquale, C.
Neuberger, T.
Hirrlinger, A. M.
Braithwaite, V. A.
The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title_full The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title_fullStr The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title_full_unstemmed The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title_short The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
title_sort influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4795028/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26817780
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2564
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