Analysis of the effects of an enriched environment on metabolism changes caused by newborn stress in Wistar rat

• Grant number: 17/18421-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Gláucia Monteiro de Castro
• Grantee: Lucas Emanuel Oliveira Carvalho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Numerous studies now provide evidence that psychiatric, metabolic, cardiac, and immunologic disorders have their genesis determined by newborn stress. Newborn stress is mediated by the activation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis which promotes changes in limbic system structures, especially in the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Evidences suggest that children are an open field to the different types of environmental stimuli during the perinatal period. Consequently, we hypothesize that deleterious effects from neonatal neglect can be reversed or attenuated by enriched environment stimulus. The enriched environment (EE) is designed to stimulate sensory, motor, cognitive and social interaction activities among animals, generating an improvement in spatial learning, memory and social behaviour. Studies point to an improvement of the neural plasticity associated with EE and linked to increased dendritic branching, the number of synapses per neuron and the number of glial cells. The present project aims to establish the relationship between newborn stress and the effects of exposure to the enriched environment correlating with the changes in metabolic, morphological and stress markers. (AU)