Impact of Environmental Enrichment on Perineuronal Nets in the Prefrontal Cortex following Early and Late Abstinence from Sucrose Self-Administration in Rats

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 12; p. e0168256
• Main Authors: Slaker, Megan, Barnes, Jesse, Sorg, Barbara A, Grimm, Jeffrey W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 15-12-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abstinence; Addictions; Addictive behaviors; Adult learning; Adults; Animal Husbandry; Animals; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain research; Cocaine; Conditioning, Operant; Cues; Decision making; Drug abuse; Drugs; Enrichment; Environment; Environmental impact; Extinction, Psychological - physiology; Extracellular matrix; Genetic aspects; Housing; Interneurons; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Nerve Net - cytology; Nerve Net - drug effects; Nerve Net - physiology; Nets; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Neurons; Neurosciences; People and Places; Perineuronal nets; Physical Sciences; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Plastic properties; Plasticity; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - cytology; Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Reinstatement; Research and Analysis Methods; Reward; Rodents; Satellite Cells, Perineuronal - cytology; Self Administration; Staining; Sucrose; Sucrose - administration & dosage; Sugar; Training; Wisteria floribunda; γ-Aminobutyric acid; United States; United States > US; Vancouver Washington
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168256

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are aggregates of extracellular matrix that form structures surrounding a subset of GABAergic interneurons. The staining intensity of PNNs appears to be related to plasticity. Environmental enrichment (EE) influences plasticity during adulthood: EE decreases the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse and diminishes both drug- and sucrose-seeking behavior. We determined the impact of EE on PNN intensity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in rats trained to self-administer sucrose. We examined the number and intensity of PNNs within the prelimbic (PL), infralimbic (IL), and orbitofrontal (OF) regions of the mPFC of adult Long-Evans rats that were trained for sucrose self-administration followed by acute or chronic EE during abstinence and a cue-induced reinstatement test. Rats exposed to EE prior to a cue-induced reinstatement of sucrose seeking had an increase in PNN staining compared with rats in standard housing. Conversely, naïve rats given 1 day of EE had a decrease in PNN intensity in the PL, no change in the IL, and an increase in the OF. Our findings demonstrate that EE increases PNN intensity in the mPFC after sucrose training, suggesting that training enhances the ability of EE to increase PNN intensity. We further demonstrate an interaction between time of abstinence, duration of EE exposure, and cue-induced reinstatement. Our results suggest that increased PNN intensity after EE may alter the excitatory/inhibitory balance of mPFC neurons such that rats are less responsive to a sucrose cue.