SynthesisFrontiers in veterinary science2022
Bored at home?-A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice.
Synthesis in Frontiers in veterinary science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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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
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Complex Three-Dimensional Rearing Environments Amplify Compensatory Plasticity Following Early Blindness.eNeuro · 2026Article
- Executive functioning in wild guppies: investigating the impact of a pharmaceutical pollutant.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Early-life adversity in rodents: Experimental design is of the essence.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Behavioral effects of a chronic envy-like stress paradigm in mice using an adjacent cage model.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Heads and tails of individual differences: the role of environmental complexity in cognitive development of juvenile lobsters.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- Sex-dependent effects of environmental enrichment on mood-related behaviors, central and peripheral BDNF, and adrenal catecholamine enzymes in mice.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Influence of environmental enrichment on rodents' brains: neurochemical and neuroanatomical aspects.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Review
- Experiencing Novelty in Adolescence and the Influence of Prior Novelty-Related Experiences on Adult Behavioral Outcomes in Wistar Han Rats.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Assessment of Behavioral, Clinical, and Histological Outcomes in Sprague-Dawley Rats Housed in Enriched Colony Cages Versus Conventional Pair Housing over 28 Days.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Voluntary Long-Term Exercise by Female Mice Modulates Anxiety-Like Behavior and Motor Function but Minimally Impacts Acute Oxidative Injury in the Central Nervous System.The European journal of neuroscience · 2025Article
- A scoping review of ethical decisions and decision tools for experimental animal protocols.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- Quick on their paws: mice living in human-disturbed areas are faster problem-solvers than mice in strictly protected areas.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- The influence of regularly changing enrichment on the cognitive judgement bias of laboratory rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Therapeutic Effects of Intranasal Administration of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Secretome in Rats Exposed to Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- Environmental restraint: A hidden risk factor for stress-induced depression in rats.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Article
- Beyond the Fragile X protein: neighborhood characteristics explain individual differences in IQ and adaptive behaviors of Fragile X syndrome.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Environmental enrichment for laboratory rats and mice: endocrine, physiological, and behavioral benefits of meeting rodents' biological needs.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
- Effects of Nesting Material and Housing Parameters on Feed Wastage Behavior in Female Swiss Webster Mice.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2024Article
- Improving the predictive power of mouse models.Nature biotechnology · 2024Article
- What Can Laboratory Animal Facility Managers Do to Improve the Welfare of Laboratory Animals and Laboratory Animal Facility Staff? A German Perspective.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans, it may very well describe the lives of many laboratory animals housed in small, barren cages. To make the cages less monotonous, environmental enrichment is often proposed. Although housing in a stimulating environment is still used predominantly as a luxury good and for treatment in preclinical research, enrichment is increasingly recognized to improve animal welfare. To gain insight into how stimulating environments influence the welfare of laboratory rodents, we conducted a systematic review of studies that analyzed the effect of enriched environment on behavioral parameters of animal well-being. Remarkably, a considerable number of these parameters can be associated with symptoms of boredom. Our findings show that a stimulating living environment is essential for the development of natural behavior and animal welfare of laboratory rats and mice alike, regardless of age and sex. Conversely, confinement and under-stimulation has potentially detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of laboratory rodents. We show that boredom in experimental animals is measurable and does not have to be accepted as inevitable.
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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.