Amelioration of cognitive impairment and changes in microtubule-associated protein 2 after transient global cerebral ischemia are influenced by complex environment experience

In this study we examined whether expression of microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) after transient global cerebral ischemia can be influenced by behavioral experience and if the changes are associated with functional improvement. Rats received either ischemia or sham surgery then assigned to: complex environment housing (EC) or social housing (SC) as controls for 14 days followed by water maze testing. Upregulation of MAP2 was seen in all ischemic animals with a significant overall increase evident in the EC housed rats. Behaviorally, all animals learned to perform the water maze task over time but the ischemia SC rats had the worst performance overall while all the EC housed animals demonstrated the best performance in general. Regression analysis showed that increase MAP2 expression was able to explain some of the variance in the behavioral parameters in the water maze suggesting that this cytoskeletal protein probably played a role in mediating enhanced functional outcomes.