Neural mechanism of environmental enrichment improving depression / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by low mood with complex pathophysiological mechanisms and poor effect of pharmacological treatment.The animals were placed in greater sensory, physical and/or social stimuli than those of the standard feeding environment, so that they can obtain positive plasticity and adaptability.Environmental enrichment(EE) is a common intervention to improve brain function in laboratory.A large number of studies have shown that EE had significant ameliorative effects on various animal models of depression, but the mechanisms have not been yet fully understood with outcome heterogeneity in ethology.There was no universally accepted and unified paradigm and standard for EE due to its multi-dimensionality and complexity.Therefore, it is necessary to improve the structural components and implementation steps of EE by integrating the existing data.Combined with recent studies on animal models of depression, this paper reviewed the anti-depression mechanism of EE from promoting hippocampal neurogenesis, reducing neuroinflammation, regulating neuroendocrine and affecting epigenetic modifications, in order to provide new ideas for mechanisms research and treatment of depression.As the rise of precision medicine and individualized medicine brings human growing interest in exploring the sources and mechanisms of inter-individual differences and intra-group effects of depression, it will be a challenge to translate EE to the human society in a rational way.