Avaliação dos efeitos neuroquímicos e comportamentais do enriquecimento ambiental em animais submetidos a privação maternal

Abstract

The relationship between mother and its pups is extremely important for mammals, given the importance of maternal care and attachment in the first days of life. Traumatic events during this period may impair physiological and psychological development, potentially causing short- and long-term changes. Maternal deprivation (MD) is a well-established protocol used to investigate both neurobiological and behavioral changes such as anxiety disorders. It has been demonstrated that environmental enrichment (EE) protocols promote numerous sensory, motor, and cognitive benefits in laboratory animals, and may be used to intervene in changes caused by postnatal adverse events and to prevent the occurrence of psychiatric disorders in adulthood. In this context, we evaluated the implications of EE as a strategy to prevent the maternal deprivation effects on anxiety behaviors and gene expression of the serotonergic system components.