418981

Effect of Sex and Environmental Enrichment on Predator Odor Contextual Fear Conditioning and Extinction in Laboratory Mice

Article

Last updated: 29 Mar 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Animal, Poultry and Environmental Health

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of sex and environmental enrichment (EE) on predator odor, contextual fear conditioning, and extinction in BALB/c mice. Forty adult mice (20 males, 20 females) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 10 each): male enrichment, female enrichment, male non-enrichment, and female non-enrichment. Enriched groups were housed in larger cages (60×40×20 cm) with tunnels and nesting materials, while non-enriched groups were housed in standard laboratory cages (30×20×15 cm). The experiment included a multi-day predator odor contextual fear conditioning paradigm. Days 1-3 consisted of a 10-minute familiarization session, a 10-minute predator odor exposure session (using cat feces), and a 10-minute conditioned context session. Extinction sessions (10 minutes each) were conducted on Days 4, 6, and 10. Behavioral responses (e.g., avoidance, freezing, locomotion, grooming) were assessed across all sessions. Results revealed that EE significantly reduced anxiety-related behaviors (e.g., hiding, freezing) and enhanced exploratory and grooming behaviors. Sex differences were also observed: male mice exhibited longer freezing and hiding durations, while females showed higher locomotor activity. Temporal patterns showed distinct dynamics in fear and exploratory behaviors, with EE facilitating adaptive coping mechanisms. These findings suggest that EE provides a protective effect against fear-related behaviors and that sex differences exist in the response to predator odor fear conditioning, highlighting the importance of considering both factors in preclinical anxiety research.

DOI

10.21608/scvmj.2025.363542.1193

Keywords

Enrichment, Fear, Conditioning, predator odor, sex difference, Mice

Authors

First Name

Ali

Last Name

Ali

MiddleName

Youssief

Affiliation

Animal, Poultry, and Fish Behavior & Management Department, Suez canal university, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

ali.y2021_psg@vet.suez.edu.eg

City

Arish

Orcid

-

First Name

Ibrahim

Last Name

Fares

MiddleName

Mohamed

Affiliation

Professor and head of department of Animal, Poultry, and Fish Behavior & Management Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

ibrahim_fares@vet.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Ashraf

Last Name

Khalil

MiddleName

Mahmoud

Affiliation

Professor of Animal, Poultry, and Fish Behavior & Management Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Suez Canal University

Email

ashraf_khalil@vet.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Ahmed

Last Name

Ali

MiddleName

Abdellatif

Affiliation

Ass. Prof. of Animal, Poultry, and Fish Behavior & Management Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Suez Canal University

Email

ahmedabdelatif@vet.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Ibrahim

Last Name

Hegab

MiddleName

Magdy

Affiliation

Ass. Prof. of Animal, Poultry, and Fish Behavior & Management Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Suez Canal University

Email

ibrahim_hegab@vet.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

Volume

30

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

53798

Issue Date

2025-06-01

Receive Date

2025-02-27

Publish Date

2025-06-01

Page Start

51

Page End

72

Print ISSN

1110-6298

Online ISSN

2682-3284

Link

https://scvmj.journals.ekb.eg/article_418981.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=418981

Order

80

Type

Original Article

Type Code

992

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Suez Canal Veterinary Medical Journal. SCVMJ

Publication Link

https://scvmj.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Effect of Sex and Environmental Enrichment on Predator Odor Contextual Fear Conditioning and Extinction in Laboratory Mice

Details

Type

Article

Created At

29 Mar 2025