Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2019
Capstone Advisor
Catherine Cornwell
Honors Reader
Lawrence Lewandowski
Capstone Major
Psychology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
yes
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Other Psychology | Psychology
Abstract
This study pertained to the effects of environmental enrichment, which is a physical post-weaning treatment that has been shown to induce beneficial changes in behavior, in two mouse models. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts social behavior and communication. It has been found to develop due to both genetic and environmental influences, and to be comorbid with anxiety disorders. The present study assessed anxious behavior, as measured by the elevated plus task, as an indirect symptom of Autism. Maternally separated CD-1 mice were used as a model of environmentally influenced autism and BTBR mice were used as a model of genetically influenced autism. The results indicated that the process of maternal separation did not induce more anxious behavior when compared to controls, but environmental enrichment was found to reduce anxious behavior in both maternally separated animals and controls. They also indicated that there was an effect of strain on behavior when comparing BTBR mice and controls, but no significant effects of enrichment were found.
Recommended Citation
Burke, Khemiah, "A Comparison of Anxiety-related Behavior on the Elevated Plus Task Following Environmental Enrichment in Two Mouse models for Autism" (2019). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 1095.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1095
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
