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. 2016 Jul 1:307:145-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2016.04.005. Epub 2016 Apr 6.

Transgenerational effects of environmental enrichment on repetitive motor behavior development

Allison R Bechard  1 , Mark H Lewis  2
Affiliations

Transgenerational effects of environmental enrichment on repetitive motor behavior development

Allison R Bechard et al. Behav Brain Res. .

Abstract

The favorable consequences of environmental enrichment (EE) on brain and behavior development are well documented. Much less is known, however, about transgenerational benefits of EE on non-enriched offspring. We explored whether transgenerational effects of EE might extend to the development of repetitive motor behaviors in deer mice. Repetitive motor behaviors are invariant patterns of movement that, across species, can be reduced by EE. We found that EE not only attenuated the development of repetitive behavior in dams, but also in their non-enriched offspring. Moreover, maternal behavior did not seem to mediate the transgenerational effect we found, although repetitive behavior was affected by reproductive experience. These data support a beneficial transgenerational effect of EE on repetitive behavior development and suggest a novel benefit of reproductive experience.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Deer mice; Early experience; Maternal behavior; Reproductive experience.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A timeline of the breeding and testing schedules.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The mean total frequencies of repetitive motor behaviors for a) F0 females reared in environmental enrichment (EE) and standard housing (SH), b) non-enriched F1 offspring, and c) non-enriched F2 offspring. Data bar shows mean ± SEM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effect of reproductive experience on repetitive motor behaviors. Data point shows mean ± SEM.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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