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Early-life environmental enrichment generates persistent individualized behavior in mice

View ORCID ProfileSara Zocher, Susan Schilling, Anna N. Grzyb, Vijay S. Adusumilli, Jadna Bogado Lopes, Sandra Günther, View ORCID ProfileRupert W. Overall, View ORCID ProfileGerd Kempermann
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/851907
Sara Zocher
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Dresden, Tatzberg 41, 01307 Dresden, Germany
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  • ORCID record for Sara Zocher
Susan Schilling
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Anna N. Grzyb
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Vijay S. Adusumilli
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Jadna Bogado Lopes
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Sandra Günther
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Rupert W. Overall
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Gerd Kempermann
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  • ORCID record for Gerd Kempermann
  • For correspondence: Gerd.Kempermann@dzne.de
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Abstract

Individuals differ in their response to environmental stimuli, but the stability of individualized behaviors and their associated changes in brain plasticity are poorly understood. We developed a novel model of enriched environment to longitudinally monitor 40 inbred mice exploring 35 connected cages over periods of three to six months. We show that behavioral individuality that emerged during the first three months of environmental enrichment persisted when mice were withdrawn from the enriched environment for three additional months. Behavioral trajectories were associated with stable inter-individual differences in adult hippocampal neurogenesis and persistent epigenetic effects on neuronal plasticity genes in the hippocampus. Using genome-wide DNA methylation sequencing, we show that one third of the DNA methylation changes were maintained after withdrawal from the enriched environment. Our results suggest that, even under the most constraint conditions controlling genes and environment, early-life experiences result in lasting individualized changes in behavior and brain plasticity.

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Posted November 22, 2019.
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Early-life environmental enrichment generates persistent individualized behavior in mice
Sara Zocher, Susan Schilling, Anna N. Grzyb, Vijay S. Adusumilli, Jadna Bogado Lopes, Sandra Günther, Rupert W. Overall, Gerd Kempermann
bioRxiv 851907; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/851907
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Early-life environmental enrichment generates persistent individualized behavior in mice
Sara Zocher, Susan Schilling, Anna N. Grzyb, Vijay S. Adusumilli, Jadna Bogado Lopes, Sandra Günther, Rupert W. Overall, Gerd Kempermann
bioRxiv 851907; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/851907

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