Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Environmental Switchovers Between Enrichment And Impoverishment On Brain And Behavior In Mice, Judith K. Ahroon

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Rearing rodents or primates in environments that are comparatively enriched or impoverished results in often impressive physiological and anatomical changes after a certain period of exposure. However, the anatomical and biochemical characteristics that respond to environmental experience (Bennett, Diamond, Krech, & Rosenzweig, 1964; Greenough & Volkmar, 1973; Walsh, Budtz-Olsen, Penny, & Cummins, 1969) have been subjected to a more sophisticated level of analysis than have the less consistent changes in behavioral tendencies. The specific nature of environmentally induced modifications in behavioral tendencies must be better understood, if substantive predictions about brain-behavior relationships can be made. Furthermore, the long-term effects of …