Journal article

Environmental enrichment delays limbic epileptogenesis and restricts pathologic synaptic plasticity

M Yang, E Ozturk, MR Salzberg, S Rees, M Morris, TJ O'Brien, NC Jones

Epilepsia | WILEY | Published : 2016

Abstract

Summary Objective Environmental exposures impart powerful effects on vulnerability to many brain diseases, including epilepsy. Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is a common form of epilepsy, and it is often accompanied by neuropsychiatric comorbidities. This study tests the hypothesis that environmental enrichment (EE) confers antiepileptogenic, psychoprotective, and neuroprotective effects in the amygdala kindling model of MTLE, and explores potential neurobiologic mechanisms. Methods At weaning, male Wistar rats were allocated into either EE (large cages containing running wheels and toys; n = 43) or standard housing (SH; standard laboratory cages; n = 39) conditions. At P56, a bipolar ..

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Grants

Awarded by NHMRC


Awarded by ARC


Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia


Funding Acknowledgements

TO, MS, MM, SR and NJ received funding from the NHMRC Project Grant Scheme for this work (#566843 and #1059860). NJ received funding from the NHMRC Career Development Award Scheme (#628466) and from the ARC Future Fellowship Scheme (#13100100). The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest associated with this work. We confirm that we have read the Journal's position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines.