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Environmental enrichment mitigates cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease
Jankowsky JL, Melnikova T, Fadale DJ, Xu GM, Slunt HH, Gonzales V, Younkin LH, Younkin SG et al.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2005-05-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Epidemiological studies suggest that individuals with greater education or more cognitively demanding occupations have diminished risk of developing dementia. We wanted to test whether this effect could be recapitulated in rodents using environmental enrichment, a paradigm well documented to attenuate behavioral deficits induced by various pathological insults. Here, we demonstrate that learning and memory deficits observed in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease can be ameliorated by enrichment. Female transgenic mice overexpressing amyloid precursor protein and/or presenilin-1 and nontransgenic controls were placed into enriched or standard cages at 2 months of age and tested for cognitive behavior after 6 months of differential housing. Enrichment significantly improved performance of all genotypes in the radial water maze and in the classic and repeated-reversal versions of the Morris water maze. However, enrichment did not benefit all genotypes equally. Mice overproducing amyloid-beta (Abeta), particularly those with amyloid deposits, showed weaker memory for the platform location in the classic Morris water maze and learned new platform positions in the repeated-reversals task less quickly than their nontransgenic cagemates. Nonetheless, enrichment normalized the performance of Abeta-overproducing mice to the level of standard-housed nontransgenic mice. Moreover, this functional preservation occurred despite increased neuritic plaque burden in the hippocampus of double-transgenic animals and elevated steady-state Abeta levels, because both endogenous and transgene-derived Abeta are increased in enriched animals. These results demonstrate that the generation of Abeta in vivo and its impact on the function of the nervous system can be strongly modulated by environmental factors.
Key findings
- Epidemiological studies suggest that individuals with greater education or more cognitively demanding occupations have diminished risk of developing dementia.
- Enrichment significantly improved performance of all genotypes in the radial water maze and in the classic and repeated-reversal versions of the Morris water maze.
- These results demonstrate that the generation of Abeta in vivo and its impact on the function of the nervous system can be strongly modulated by environmental factors.
Why it matters
In a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, enriched housing improved learning and memory, and it normalized the performance of amyloid-beta-overproducing mice to the level of standard-housed nontransgenic mice. These results are in animals and show that amyloid-beta's effects on nervous system function can be strongly modulated by environmental factors, not that enrichment treats or prevents Alzheimer's disease in people.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 49/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Journal of Neuroscience: journal h-index 651 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2005 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Laboratory or animal study (title names “mouse”) — scores zero |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 518 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 22.5 citations a year over 23 year(s) since 2005 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 15.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 9 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 31 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Alena V. Savonenko: h-index 37 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Johns Hopkins University: institution h-index 2,306 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15917461) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 49 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.5080-04.2005
- PubMed: 15917461
- Original source →
- Free full text: Journal of Neuroscience →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Jankowsky, J. L., Melnikova, T., Fadale, D. J., Xu, G. M., Slunt, H. H., Gonzales, V., et al. (2005). Environmental enrichment mitigates cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5080-04.2005
Vancouver
Jankowsky JL, Melnikova T, Fadale DJ, Xu GM, Slunt HH, Gonzales V, et al. Environmental enrichment mitigates cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2005. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5080-04.2005. PMID: 15917461.
BibTeX
@article{jankowsky2005-15917461,
author = {Jankowsky, J. L. and Melnikova, T. and Fadale, D. J. and Xu, G. M. and Slunt, H. H. and Gonzales, V. and Younkin, L. H. and Younkin, S. G. and others},
title = {{Environmental enrichment mitigates cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1523/jneurosci.5080-04.2005},
pmid = {15917461},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5080-04.2005}
}
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