Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

Environmental- And Ethanol-Induced Effects On Reference And Short-Term Memory In The Rat, Kimberly Ramos

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a combination of complex physical and social stimulation beyond that which would be received in standard or isolated laboratory housing. Continuous enrichment paradigms have been shown, among other influences, to increase neurogenesis and dendritic branching, and enhance learning and memory. Recently, the preventative effects of enrichment have been considered, specifically relating to drugs of abuse (Solinas, Thiret, Chauvet, & Jaber 2010; Stairs & Bardo 2009). This series of studies examined the effects of daily EE on reference memory and short-term memory, as assessed in the radial arm water maze (RAWM) and Morris water maze (MWM). Sprague-Dawley …