Development of spontaneous stereotyped behavior in deer mice: effects of early and late exposure to a more complex...

Abnormal repetitive behaviors such as stereotypies are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and are often observed under conditions of environmental restriction, particularly early in development. Few studies, however, have systematically assessed the effects of environmental enrichment and almost no information is available as to whether a sensitive period exists for such enrichment effects. We hypothesized that spontaneous stereotypies exhibited by deer mice housed under standard laboratory conditions were the result of environmental restriction and that a sensitive period exists for the development/prevention of stereotypies. Exposure to a more complex environment early in the post-weaning period resulted in substantially less stereotypy in the complex environment. Importantly, this outcome was maintained even after mice were housed in standard cages for an identical period of time. Later exposure to the more complex environment also resulted in significantly lower levels of stereotypy compared to controls. These effects were observed in the experimental housing condition as well as in a standard test context. The effects of early and late enrichment support the importance of environmental restriction in the genesis of stereotype and provide support for the efficacy of early and late enrichment in the prevention of stereotypies.