TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of enriched environment on BDNF expression in the mouse cerebellum depending on the length of exposure
AU - Vazquez-Sanroman, D.
AU - Sanchis-Segura, C.
AU - Toledo, R.
AU - Hernandez, M. E.
AU - Manzo, J.
AU - Miquel, M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from El Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [ PSI2008-01317/PSIC ]; Secretaría General de Universidades del Ministerio de Educación [ SAB2009-0159 ]; Bancaixa [ P1.1A2008-17 ] and Bancaixa ( P1.1B2011-42 ).
PY - 2013/4/5
Y1 - 2013/4/5
N2 - Environmental enrichment (EE) has been proposed as a factor that improves neuronal connectivity and brain plasticity. The induction of molecular mechanisms that takes place in the cortex, nucleus accumbens and hippocampus resulting from exposure to EE has been attributed partly to the role of neurotrophins as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Recent data directly implicate this neurotrophin in the modulation of plasticity changes in the cerebellum produced by living under environmental enrichment. In the present study, we aimed to assess the effects of different lengths of exposure to EE on cerebellar BDNF expression and western blotting analysis. On the whole, the present data has shown that BDNF increased under EE. However, changes in expression as a result of extending the duration of EE were only seen in Purkinje neurons. In Purkinje neurons, long-term exposure was required in order to fully express this neurotrophin. These data support BDNF as one of the long-term plasticity mechanisms induced by environment, suggesting that cerebellar plasticity can be stimulated as a response to challenges generated by environment. Our findings could have functional implications for various neurodegenerative disorders such as spinocerebellar ataxias, autism, schizophrenia and certain prion encephalopathies, most of them pathologies which have demonstrated to be characterized by alterations in Purkinje neurons and to show a partial recovery by exposure to EE.
AB - Environmental enrichment (EE) has been proposed as a factor that improves neuronal connectivity and brain plasticity. The induction of molecular mechanisms that takes place in the cortex, nucleus accumbens and hippocampus resulting from exposure to EE has been attributed partly to the role of neurotrophins as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Recent data directly implicate this neurotrophin in the modulation of plasticity changes in the cerebellum produced by living under environmental enrichment. In the present study, we aimed to assess the effects of different lengths of exposure to EE on cerebellar BDNF expression and western blotting analysis. On the whole, the present data has shown that BDNF increased under EE. However, changes in expression as a result of extending the duration of EE were only seen in Purkinje neurons. In Purkinje neurons, long-term exposure was required in order to fully express this neurotrophin. These data support BDNF as one of the long-term plasticity mechanisms induced by environment, suggesting that cerebellar plasticity can be stimulated as a response to challenges generated by environment. Our findings could have functional implications for various neurodegenerative disorders such as spinocerebellar ataxias, autism, schizophrenia and certain prion encephalopathies, most of them pathologies which have demonstrated to be characterized by alterations in Purkinje neurons and to show a partial recovery by exposure to EE.
KW - BDNF
KW - Cerebellum
KW - Enriched environment
KW - Mice
KW - Purkinje
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873874474&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.12.047
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.12.047
M3 - Article
C2 - 23295397
AN - SCOPUS:84873874474
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 243
SP - 118
EP - 128
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
IS - 1
ER -