Changing Environment Affects Stress Level in Mice
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 3 Jul 2012
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/07/12303/changing-environment-affects-stress-level-mice
The negative impact of stress on health is widely documented. So is the importance of reducing stress in one's life. But a new animal study is the first to model stress reduction and its biological effects in rodents as they are placed in various caging environments, according to a new study led by UCSF researchers.
An international team from the United States, France, Germany and Austria conducted a study on 40 male mice from February to July 2011. The research, published this month as the cover story of Molecular Medicine, focused on four specific environments that varied in size, comfort and the ability of the mice to exercise.
"Our intention was to develop a mouse model that we can use reproducibly to model the biological changes that occur when moving from a state of stress to a state of less stress, or stress reduction," said first author Blake Gurfein, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow with the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. "We wanted to explore neuroendocrine changes. What happens when you reduce stress hormone levels? What happens when you reduce autonomic nervous system activity? That was the basis of our hypothesis."