The development of repetitive motor behaviors in deer mice: Effects of environmental enrichment, repeated testing, and differential mediation by indirect basal ganglia pathway activation.
Little is known about the mechanisms mediating the development of repetitive behaviors in human or animals. Deer mice reared with environmental enrichment (EE) exhibit fewer repetitive behaviors and greater indirect basal ganglia pathway activation as adults than those reared in standard cages. The developmental progression of these behavioral and neural circuitry changes has not been characterized. We assessed the development of repetitive behavior in deer mice using both a longitudinal and cohort design. Repeated testing negated the expected effect of EE, but cohort analyses showed that progression of repetitive behavior was arrested after 1 week of EE and differed significantly from controls after 3 weeks. Moreover, EE reductions in repetitive behavior were associated with increasing activation of indirect pathway nuclei in males across adolescence, but not females. These findings provide the first assessment of developmental trajectories within EE and support indirect pathway mediation of repetitive behavior in male deer mice.
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Allison R
AR
Bechard
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Nikolay
N
Bliznyuk
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Mark H
MH
Lewis
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology*
Peromyscus maniculatus; animal models; environmental enrichment; repeated testing; subthalamic nucleus