ArticleNeuroscience2012
Aerobic exercise is the critical variable in an enriched environment that increases hippocampal neurogenesis and water maze learning in male C57BL/6J mice.
Article in Neuroscience, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical activity to improve cognition in older adults: can physical activity programs enriched with cognitive challenges enhance the effects? A systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2018Pooled it
- Nutritional supplementation boosts aerobic exercise effects on functional brain systems.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2019Trial
- Training versus engagement as paths to cognitive enrichment with aging.Psychology and aging · 2014Trial
- Voluntary Exercise and Hippocampal Memory Enhancement: Decoding the Molecular Blueprint.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2026Review
- Evaluation of irisin levels in plasma, skeletal muscle, and brain tissues after voluntary or regular exercise in adolescent male rats exposed to chronic social isolation.Biologia futura · 2025Article
- Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing Reveals Enduring Signatures of Acute Stress and Chronic Exercise in Striatal Microglia.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2025Article
- Hippocampal Neurogenesis via Light-Intensity Running and Its Mechanism.Advances in neurobiology · 2025Review
- The impact of voluntary wheel-running exercise on hippocampal neurogenesis and behaviours in response to nicotine cessation in rats.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Adult Neurogenesis, Context Encoding, and Pattern Separation: A Pathway for Treating Overgeneralization.Advances in neurobiology · 2024Review
- Constitutive and conditional deletion reveals distinct phenotypes driven by developmental versus neurotransmitter actions of the neuropeptide PACAP.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Switching it up: Activity diversity and cognitive functioning in later life.Psychology and aging · 2023Article
- Mechanisms underlying the effect of voluntary running on adult hippocampal neurogenesis.Hippocampus · 2023Review
- Interplay between Learning and Voluntary Wheel Running in Male C57BL/6NCrl Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Comparison of the effect of postweaning social isolation, enriched environment, and exercise training on learning and memory functions in rats.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2023Article
- A New, Simple and Practical Approach to Increase the Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Serum Levels of Neurotrophic Factors in Adult Males.International journal of exercise science · 2023Article
- The Molecular Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Alzheimer's Disease.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Review
- Synergistic effects of combined therapy with transcranial photobiomodulation and enriched environment on depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in a mice model of noise stress.Lasers in medical science · 2022Article
- Physical activity, memory function, and hippocampal volume in adults with Down syndrome.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2022Article
- miR-128 as a Regulator of Synaptic Properties in 5xFAD Mice Hippocampal Neurons.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2021Article
- Exercise hormone irisin is a critical regulator of cognitive function.Nature metabolism · 2021Article
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that housing mice with toys and running wheels increases adult hippocampal neurogenesis and enhances performance on the water maze. However, the relative contribution of running versus enrichment to the neurogenic and pro-cognitive effects is not clear. Recently, it was demonstrated that enrichment devoid of running wheels does not significantly enhance adult hippocampal neurogenesis in female C57BL/6J mice. However, novel toys were not rotated into the cages, and dietary enrichment was not included, so it could be argued that the environment was not enriched enough. In addition, only females were studied, and animals were group-housed, making it impossible to record individual running behavior or to determine the time spent running versus exploring the toys. Therefore, we repeated the study in singly housed male C57BL/6J mice and enhanced enrichment by rotating novel tactile, visual, dietary, auditory, and vestibular stimuli into the cages. Mice were housed for 32 days in one of four groups: running-only, enrichment-only, running plus enrichment, and standard cage. The first 10 days bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was administered to label dividing cells. The last 5 days mice were tested on the water maze, and then euthanized to measure number of BrdU cells co-labeled with neuronal nuclear marker (NeuN) in the dentate gyrus. Mice in the running-only group ran, on average, equivalent distances as animals in the running plus enrichment group. The combination of enrichment and running did not significantly increase hippocampal neurogenesis any more than running alone did. Animals in the running-only condition were the only group to show enhanced acquisition on water maze relative to standard cage controls. We confirm and extend the conclusion that environmental enrichment alone does not significantly increase hippocampal neurogenesis or bestow spatial learning benefits in male C57BL/6J mice, even when the modalities of enrichment are very broad.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.