Effects of enriched environment with music on depressive behavior and hippocampal neuroplasticity in rats
10.3760/cma.j.cn421666-20230131-00074
- VernacularTitle:含音乐的丰富环境对慢性温和不可预知应激大鼠抑郁样行为及其海马神经可塑性的影响
- Author:
Xiao CHEN
1
;
Lu YIN
;
Yun AN
;
Huixin YAN
;
Juntao YAN
Author Information
1. 上海中医药大学附属曙光医院，上海 201203
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Depression;
Stress;
Environmental enrichment;
Music;
Neural plasticity;
Hippocampus
- From:
Chinese Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
2024;46(12):1065-1071
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To observe any effect of environmental enrichment on depressive behavior and the expression of the neuroplasticity-related protein kinase A (PKA), cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), phosphorylated CREB (p-CREB), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats subjected to chronic, unpredictable mild stress (CUMS).Methods:Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided at random into a blank group, a model control group, a no-music-environmental enrichment (NMEE) group and a music-environmental enrichment (MEE) group, each of 10. CUMS was induced in all except the blank group. After successful modeling, the rats in the blank and model control groups were housed in conventional cages for 21 days, while the MEE group received 21 days of environmental enrichment with music and the NMEE group was similarly housed without the music. After the intervention, all groups underwent a sugar water preference experiment, an open field experiment, and a forced swimming experiment. They were then sacrificed and hippocampal PKA, CREB, p-CREB and BDNF protein expressions were detected using immunohistochemistry and western blotting.Results:After the intervention there were significant differences between the model control and blank groups in their sugar water preference, the total distance of their open field activities, the central area distance of their activities, their time spent standing up, and the duration of immobility during swimming. Those indicators were also significantly different between the MEE and model control groups. The average duration of swimming immobility of the NMEE group was significantly longer than the MEE group′s average. The percentage the hippocampus positive for CREB, p-CREB or BDNF protein had decreased significantly in the model control group compared to the blank group, while those percentages in the NMEE and especially the MEE group were significantly different from those of the model control group. PKA, CREB, p-CREB and BDNF protein expression in the model control group was significantly different from that in the blank group, while those levels in the NMEE group were significantly higher than in the model control group on average. The levels in the MEE group were the highest of all.Conclusions:Environmental enrichment can significantly improve depressive behavior resulting from CUMS, at least in rats. Adding music to an enriched environment can enhance its anti-depressant efficacy. The anti-depressant mechanism of environmental enrichment may be related to its upregulation of PKA, CREB, p-CREB and BDNF protein expression.
