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Acute, but not longer-term, exposure to environmental enrichment attenuates Pavlovian cue-evoked conditioned approach and Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex in mice.

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posted on 2023-06-09, 23:09 authored by Gabriella Margetts-Smith, Anastasia I Macnaghten, Leonie S Brebner, Joseph J Ziminski, Meike C Sieburg, Jeffrey Grimm, Hans CrombagHans Crombag, Eisuke KoyaEisuke Koya
Exposure to environmental enrichment can modify the impact of motivationally relevant stimuli. For instance, previous studies in rats have shown that even a brief, acute (~1 day), but not chronic, exposure to environmentally enriched (EE) housing attenuates instrumental lever pressing for sucrose-associated cues in a conditioned reinforcement setup. Moreover, acute EE reduces corticoaccumbens activity, as measured by decreases in expression of the neuronal activity marker 'Fos'. Currently, it is not known whether acute EE also reduces sucrose seeking and corticoaccumbens activity elicited by non-contingent or 'forced' exposure to sucrose cues, which more closely resembles cue exposure encountered in daily life. We therefore measured the effects of acute/intermittent (1 d or 6 d of EE prior to test day) versus chronic (EE throughout conditioning lasting until test day) EE on the ability of a Pavlovian sucrose cue to elicit sucrose seeking (conditioned approach) and Fos expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and nucleus accumbens (NAc) in mice. 1 d, but not 6 d or chronic EE reduced sucrose seeking and Fos in the deep layers of the dorsal mPFC. In contrast, 1 d, 6 d, and chronic EE all reduced Fos in the shallow layers of the OFC. None of the EE manipulations modulated NAc Fos expression. We reveal how EE reduces behavioral reactivity to sucrose cues by reducing activity in select prefrontal cortical brain areas. Our work further demonstrates the robustness of EE in its ability to modulate various forms of reward-seeking across species.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

European Journal Of Neuroscience

ISSN

0953-816X

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Event location

France

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2021-02-25

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2022-02-11

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-02-24

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