RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Contribution of Environmental Complexity to Phenotypic Variation in Mice and Rats
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.07.11.198705
DO 10.1101/2020.07.11.198705
A1 Amanda C. Kentner
A1 Amanda V. Speno
A1 Joanne Doucette
A1 Ryland C. Roderick
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/07/12/2020.07.11.198705.abstract
AB The reproducibility and translation of neuroscience research is assumed to be undermined by introducing environmental complexity and heterogeneity. Rearing laboratory animals with minimal (if any) environmental stimulation is thought to control for biological variability but may not adequately test the robustness of our animal models. Standard laboratory housing is associated with reduced demonstrations of species typical behaviors and changes in neurophysiology that may impact the translation of research results. Moreover, modest increases in environmental enrichment (EE) mitigate against insults used to induce animal models of disease, directly calling into question the translatability of our work and may in part underlie the disconnect between preclinical and clinical research findings. Enhancing environmental stimulation for our model organisms promotes ethological natural behaviors but may simultaneously increase phenotypic trait variability. To test this assumption, we conducted a systematic review and evaluated coefficients of variation between EE and control housed animals. Overall, animals housed in enrichment were not more variable than controls. Therefore, environmental heterogeneity introduced into the laboratory does not compromise data integrity.Highlights-Environmental complexity is thought to increase phenotypic variability, undermining research translation-We conducted a systematic review to compare between environmentally enriched and control housed animals-Coefficients of variation were evaluated across several phenotypic traits-Animals housed in environmental enrichment were not more variable than controls-We also provide a methodological reporting table for environmental enrichment use in neuroscience researchCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.