Scoping review on environmental enrichment: Are critical periods and sex differences adequately studied?

Background: Decades of research have shown the robust behavioral, structural, and molecular effects of environmental enrichment (EE) which predominantly improves neuropathological conditions. However, systematic examination of age and sex influences in response to EE is limited.

Objective: Examine the use of EE and evaluate where sex differences (or similarities) are described and whether critical developmental periods are addressed. A critical examination of review articles about EE will establish a framework for the context of the findings of EE-induced effects, improve the impact of future EE studies and improve translatability.

Eligibility criteria: Narrative, systematic reviews (not original reports) and meta-analyses of any animal species published during 2011 to 2021. Clinical and farming studies were excluded.

Sources of evidence: Indexed review articles in Pubmed and Psychinfo.

Results: Most studies examine EE during adulthood such as following an injury or following repeated addictive drug exposure. However, in various genetic models of disease states, little attention is paid to effects of EE at different ages. Only some reviews acknowledge that sex differences exist even when the disease state under study is known to be sexually dimorphic. Identified issues include lack of systematic reporting; status of the "control group" (i.e., isolation or pair housing); the use and reporting of proper statistical analyses.

Conclusion: Reviews have concluded that EE is most effective when administered early in life but that EE during adulthood is certainly effective. Too few review studies have compared sexes for the effects of EE to make a statement about sex differences. Overall, articles reflect a lack of integration of information on age and sex differences in response to EE. Future studies of EE should examine both sexes and consider critical periods of the lifespan in the experimental models to facilitate the adequate translation of EE as a non-pharmaceutical intervention.