The effects of environmental enrichment on nicotine sensitization in a rodent model of schizophrenia
Honors Program
Honors in Psychology
Date of Award
5-2014
Thesis Professor(s)
Russell W. Brown
Thesis Professor Department
Psychology
Thesis Reader(s)
Russell W. Brown, Andi Clements
Abstract
Environmental enrichment, for more than fifty years, has shown to increase learning in behaviors and to alter some brain structures (Renner and Rosenzweig). Some brain changes that occur when environmental enrichment is implemented include the following: increases in cortical thickness, especially the occipital cortex, increases in size of neuronal cell bodies, number of dendrites and dendritic spines, increases in astrocyte branching, increases in the number of brain blood capillaries, and increases in mitochondria (an indication of higher metabolic activity) (Stairs and Bard). It has been shown in research studies that rats in the environmental enrichment group are less sensitive to nicotine effects, both repeated and acute, than rats in isolated situations (Green et al). This is so because enrichment changes the intensity of the acute administration of drugs of abuse. Rats are stimulated by the environment, rather than a particular stimulant.
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Schlitt, Marjorie A.; Cummins, Elizabeth D.; Peterson, Daniel J.; and Brown, Russell W., "The effects of environmental enrichment on nicotine sensitization in a rodent model of schizophrenia" (2014). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 221. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/221
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.