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Updated: Jan 5, 2026

A Protocol for Housing Mice in an Enriched Environment

A Protocol for Housing Mice in an Enriched Environment

Published on: June 8, 2015

Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills.

L E Crawford¹, L E Knouse¹, M Kent¹

¹Dept. of Psychology, University of Richmond, 23173, VA, USA.

Behavioural Brain Research

|October 20, 2019

Summary

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Enriched housing enhances rats' ability to learn complex tasks like driving a rodent-operated vehicle (ROV). This training also improves emotional resilience markers, highlighting the benefits of enriched environments for behavioral research.

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Animal Behavior
Cognitive Science

Background:

Long-term behavioral training can shape complex skills in rodents.
Rodent-operated vehicles (ROVs) offer a platform for assessing motor and cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of enriched housing on rats' performance in a complex driving task.
To assess the effects of driving training on emotional resilience markers.

Main Methods:

Male rats were housed in either standard or enriched environments.
Animals were trained to drive an ROV, with performance tracked.
Fecal samples were analyzed for dehydroepiandrosterone/corticosterone (DHEA/CORT) metabolite ratios.

Main Results:

Keywords:

Animal learning Emotional resilience Enriched environment Motor skill

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Last Updated: Jan 5, 2026

A Protocol for Housing Mice in an Enriched Environment

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Enriched-housed rats showed superior learning and sustained interest in the ROV task compared to standard-housed rats.
Driving training increased DHEA/CORT metabolite ratios in all rats, indicating enhanced emotional resilience.
The study demonstrated the feasibility of using ROV driving as a complex behavioral model.

Conclusions:

Enriched environments significantly improve rats' capacity to engage in and learn complex behavioral tasks.
Driving training in an ROV model can serve as a valuable tool for assessing behavioral and physiological responses relevant to neurodegenerative and psychiatric research.
Behavioral training protocols, particularly within enriched settings, are crucial for advancing translational neuroscience research.