该拼图方块的使用作为评价环境富集的功效的一种手段
Summary
Environmental enrichment provides a potential protective effect against neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, however, there is no easy way of determining the efficacy of enrichment procedures. This protocol describes a simple “Puzzle Box” method for assessing an animal’s cognitive function, in order to reveal the effectiveness of environmental enrichment.
Abstract
Environmental enrichment can dramatically influence the development and function of neural circuits. Further, enrichment has been shown to successfully delay the onset of symptoms in models of Huntington’s disease 1-4, suggesting environmental factors can evoke a neuroprotective effect against the progressive, cellular level damage observed in neurodegenerative disorders. The ways in which an animal can be environmentally enriched, however, can vary considerably. Further, there is no straightforward manner in which the effects of environmental enrichment can be assessed: most methods require either fairly complicated behavioral paradigms and/or postmortem anatomical/physiological analyses. This protocol describes the use of a simple and inexpensive behavioral assay, the Puzzle Box 5-7 as a robust means of determining the efficacy of increased social, sensory and motor stimulation on mice compared to cohorts raised in standard laboratory conditions. This simple problem solving task takes advantage of a rodent’s innate desire to avoid open enclosures by seeking shelter. Cognitive ability is assessed by adding increasingly complex impediments to the shelter’s entrance. The time a given subject takes to successfully remove the obstructions and enter the shelter serves as the primary metric for task performance. This method could provide a reliable means of rapidly assessing the efficacy of different enrichment protocols on cognitive function, thus paving the way for systematically determining the role specific environmental factors play in delaying the onset of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease.
Introduction
丰富环境（EE）可以被定义为周围提供动物与社会交往，运动活动，和更大的感官刺激比平常经历在标准实验室environment.EE增加机会已经显示出持续影响动物的行为，使左右变化，如学习和记忆的任务降低压力和焦虑有关的活动8-10，提高了性能8,11，发病初期的运动协调性和探索性的活动11，上瘾的物质变化，产妇护理8以及电阻12 15。此外，EE已经揭示改善神经退行性疾病的影响，延缓其发作和减小在亨廷顿1-4,16，帕金森氏17和阿尔茨海默氏病18的动物模型的症状的严重程度。
这些变化COR相关的解剖和分子改变EE被称为整个大脑诱发。从开发的初期阶段，丰富的环境中饲养的动物表现出无数的神经变化，包括增加大脑的重量和皮质的厚度，树突分支9,2-22和突触密度23。 EE可以改变两者的水平和生长因子表达9,24-30，这已被证明有助于感官25,26,28,29加速发展，助记符30，以及马达电路31,32的定时。
调查EE的影响时，没有考虑到不同类型的个人研究9,24,27,30中使用的动物和环境的前期工作已经揭示了次矛盾的结果。目前，还可以用来测量在不同菌株和规格不同EE范式的有效性没有一致的和简单的行为的任务动物当中。
的益智方块任务的目的是作为一个简单的测试，以确定动物的原生解决问题的能力7。放置在开放区域的动物都必须除去妨碍位于一个小开口内以便访问一个覆盖区域/住房材料。每个受试者给出三个试验具有相同的阻塞，以便评估三种不同的认知属性。一审产生的内在或本地解决问题的能力的基准指标。在第二试验中，在同一天中运行，给出了一些指示来改善，从而加强策略用于除去特定障碍物动物的能力。在第三试验中，在第二天进行的，使我们了解到受试者的保留和召回得知解决该任务的能力。
动机为解决这些“阻塞难题”，由动物可以变化，有可能唤起一种与生俱来的欲望，以避免开放的领域和寻求庇护，还有一种内在驱动探索周围的环境6,7。众多潜在行为的驱动来解决这一难题盒的愿望基本的表明，大脑的不同区域都参与调解的工作性能。以前的工作已经表明，在精神分裂症的鼠模型中，前额叶皮层以及海马中涉及采集此任务5。大鼠病变研究也揭示了大量参与益智箱的性能，包括各种丘脑核，下丘脑，小脑和边缘结构的大脑区域。总之，这些发现表明，从事这一解决问题的任务涉及的主机与认知功能相关的神经结构。
的益智方块已成功地用于评估由M展出了解决问题的小鼠的能力，以及认知缺陷精神分裂症5-7尿液车型。上的任务的性能已被证明是高度一致的，并与其他认知行为测试6的结果很好地相关。这项工作的目的是从而适应拼图方块的任务，成为确定EE的有效性的简单和可靠的手段。
Protocol
Representative Results
Discussion
提出的数据表明，该拼图盒可有效地用于评估EE的影响。在丰富的环境中提高小鼠持续了显著少来这套行为分析比没有内标准实验室条件下饲养的动物内解决难题阻塞时间。此外，这种差异在三四个条件测试一审最为突出，这表明EE对动物的原生解决问题的能力有较大的影响，相对于他们的能力，以加强或保留解决方案，通过任务提出的问题。
该拼图方块的主要优点是它的价?…
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
The authors have no acknowledgements.
Materials
| Black Acrylic Board | 750 x 280 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 280 x 250 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 280 x 250 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 750 x 250 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 750 x 250 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 150 x 280 mm | ||
| White Acrylic Board | 280 x 250 mm with a 40 x 40 mm "door" cut into one side | ||
| Underpass | 3 pieces of 40 x 120 mm plexiglass or acrylic | ||
| Note: If unable to access acrylic board, plexiglass or similar non-porous material will suffice. | |||
| Webcam | Logitech | C210 | Fix to roof with electrical tape. Alternatively, use a tripod. |
| VirtualDub v1.10.4 | VirtualDub | N/A | Software for recording behaviour videos. Input from webcam. |
| TopScan v 3.0 | CleverSys Inc. | N/A | Software for automated top-view tracking and analysis of mouse behaviour. Captured videos are analysed post-hoc. |
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