An enriched environment improves cognitive performance in mice from the senescence-accelerated prone mouse 8 strain Role of upregulated neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus

In this study, we examined 3-month-old female mice from the senescence-accelerated prone mouse 8 strain and age-matched homologous normal aging female mice from the senescence accelerated-resistant mouse 1 strain. Mice from each strain were housed in an enriched environment (including a platform, running wheels, tunnel, and some toys) or a standard environment for 3 months. The mice housed in the enriched environment exhibited shorter escape latencies and a greater percentage of time in the target quadrant in the Morris water maze test, and they exhibited reduced errors and longer latencies in step-down avoidance experiments compared with mice housed in the standard environment. Correspondently, brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus was significantly higher in mice housed in the enriched environment compared with those housed in the standard environment, and the level of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein was positively correlated with the learning and memory abilities of mice from the senescence-accelerated prone mouse 8 strain. These results suggest that an enriched environment improved cognitive performance in mice form the senescence-accelerated prone mouse 8 strain by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus.