Cited by 206Stress Responses and CortisolNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Inoculation stress hypothesis of environmental enrichment.

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Crofton, Elizabeth J., Zhang, Yafang, Green, Thomas A.·2015·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Abstract

One hallmark of psychiatric conditions is the vast continuum of individual differences in susceptibility vs. resilience resulting from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. The environmental enrichment paradigm is an animal model that is useful for studying a range of psychiatric conditions, including protective phenotypes in addiction and depression models. The major question is how environmental enrichment, a non-drug and non-surgical manipulation, can produce such robust individual differences in such a wide range of behaviors. This paper draws from a variety of published sources to outline a coherent hypothesis of inoculation stress as a factor producing the protective enrichment phenotypes. The basic tenet suggests that chronic mild stress from living in a complex environment and interacting non-aggressively with conspecifics can inoculate enriched rats against subsequent stressors and/or drugs of abuse. This paper reviews the enrichment phenotypes, mulls the fundamental nature of environmental enrichment vs. isolation, discusses the most appropriate control for environmental enrichment, and challenges the idea that cortisol/corticosterone equals stress. The intent of the inoculation stress hypothesis of environmental enrichment is to provide a scaffold with which to build testable hypotheses for the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying these protective phenotypes and thus provide new therapeutic targets to treat psychiatric/neurological conditions.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.11.017

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  1. Bardo MT Klebaur JE Valone JM Deaton C 2001b Environmental enrichment decreases intravenous self-administration of amphetamine in female and male rats Psychopharmacology (Berl) 155 278 284 11432690
  2. Bowling SL Bardo MT 1994b Locomotor and rewarding effects of amphetamine in enriched, social, and isolate reared rats Pharmacol Biochem Behav 48 459 464 8090815
  3. Council NR 2011 Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Eighth Edition The National Academies Press 21595115
  4. Mobily KE Rubenstein LM Lemke JH Wallace RB 1996 Walking and depression in a cohort of older adults: The Iowa 65+ rural health study Journal of Aging and Physical Activity 4 119 135

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Authors
Crofton, E. J., Zhang, Y., & Green, T. A.
Affiliations
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
Corresponding author
Green, Thomas A.
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-02
Volume
49
Pages
19-31
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2066244855
Cited by
206
References
193
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 4
FWCI
1.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • NIDA (DA029091, DA007287)
  • NINDS (NS081121)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
environmental enrichment, chronic mild stress, resilience, individual differences, addiction, depression, social interaction, isolation, cortisol, corticosterone, stress response, animal models of psychiatric disorders
MeSH terms
Animals, Environment, Housing, Animal, Humans, Stress, Psychological, Resilience, Psychological

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