Enriched environment induces higher CNPase positive cells in aged rat hippocampus

It had been reported that enriched environment was beneficial for the brain cognition and for the neurons and synapses in hippocampus. Previous study reported that the oligodendrocyte density in hippocampus was increased when the rats were reared in the enriched environment from weaning to adulthood. However, biological conclusions based on density were difficult to interpret because the changes in density could be due to an alteration of total quantity and/or an alteration in the reference volume. In the present study, we used unbiased stereological methods to investigate the effect of enriched environment on the total number of 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) positive cells in CA1 and dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus in aged rats. Our results indicated that there was significant difference in the total numbers of CNPase positive cells in both CA1 and DG between enriched environment group and standard environment group. The present study provided the first evidence for the protective effects of enriched environment on the CNPase positive cells in aged hippocampus.