What is environmental enrichment and how does it help the brain?

Environmental enrichment is a groundbreaking concept in neuroscience, developed in the mid-20th century, that reveals how stimulating experiences reshape the brain.

Researchers discovered that engaging the senses and motor functions in novel ways strengthens brain connections, promotes growth, and enhances adaptability.

Rooted in this science, sensory enrichment therapy uses these principles to help children and families unlock the brain's natural ability to heal, grow, and thrive.

Environmental Enrichment and Addiction

• de Freitas Nascimento, M. G., de Castro, J. M., Medeiros, L. F., Fiuza, K. J., de Oliveira, T. C., de Sousa Morais, I. T., Bosco, T. D., Caumo, W., Stein, D. J., & Torres, I. L. S. (2024). Long-lasting behavioral and neurochemical effects of early-life environmental enrichment in rats submitted to neonatal morphine administration. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 84(8), 877–893.

• Vashisht A, Adamson G, Gacso Z, Slama J, Freund M, Vinod S, Sandoval N, Nachshon Z, Gubin S, Corso E, You ZB, Ranaldi R, Galaj E. Environmental enrichment attenuates reinstatement of heroin seeking and reverses heroin-induced upregulation of mesolimbic ghrelin receptors. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2025 Feb 25;270:112635. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112635. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40022817.

Environmental Enrichment and Aggressivity

• Anpilov S, Shemesh Y, Benjamin A, Biagini T, Umanski D, Zur Y, Sztainberg Y, Richter-Levin A, Forkosh O, Chen A. Group Social Dynamics in a Seminatural Setup Reflect the Adaptive Value of Aggression in Male Mice. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Oct 1;5(1):100399. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100399. PMID: 39620054; PMCID: PMC11605369.

Environmental Enrichment and Anxiety

• Chen H, Xu R, Wang J, Gao F, Lv Y, Li X, Li F, Zhao J, Zhang X, Wang J, Du R, Shi Y, Yu H, Ding S, Li W, Xiong J, Zheng J, Zhao L, Gao XY, Wang ZH. Maternal behavior promotes resilience to adolescent stress in mice through a microglia-neuron axis. Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 8;16(1):2333. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-57810-w. PMID: 40057602; PMCID: PMC11890579.

• Cai Y, Zhao R, Huang Y, Yang H, Liu Y, Yang R, Zhang X, Liu Y, Yan S, Liu X, Liu X, Yin X, Yu Y, Gao S, Li Y, Zhao Y, Shi H. Environmental enrichment attenuates maternal separation-induced excessive hoarding behavior in adult female mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2024 Dec;245:173913. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2024.173913. Epub 2024 Nov 23. PMID: 39581387.

• Gu H, Zhao F, Liu Z, Cao P. Defense or death? A review of the neural mechanisms underlying sensory modality-triggered innate defensive behaviors. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2025 Feb 26;92:102977. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2025.102977. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40015135.

• Ren ZY, Han BY, Zhao LY, Lou XJ, Tao YX, Zhang GF, Yang JJ. Environmental enrichment alleviates neuropathic pain-associated anxiety by enhancing the function of parvalbumin interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex. Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 24;15(1):10131. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-95220-6. PMID: 40128579; PMCID: PMC11933386.

• Xie K, Duan W, Xu Y, Chen K, Zheng X, Zhang J, Wu F, Guo G. Enriched environment mitigates anxiety and depression-like behaviors induced by SNI via restoration of AMPA and NMDA receptors function in mice. J Psychiatr Res. 2025 May 23;188:74-86. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.05.051. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40435793.

Environmental Enrichment and Attention and Motivation

• Ju C, Ogura A, Hayashi Y, Kawabata Y, D'Acquisto F, Kawakubo-Yasukochi T, Jimi E. The impact of environmental enrichment on energy metabolism in ovariectomized mice. PLoS One. 2025 Apr 2;20(4):e0320180. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320180. PMID: 40173406; PMCID: PMC11964458.

• da Rocha Zurchimitten G, Oliveira BRF, Maia L, Izídio GS. An enriched environment during adolescence reduced ADHD-related behaviors in SHR and SLA16 male rats. Behav Brain Res. 2025 May 29:115665. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115665. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40449738.

Environmental Enrichment and Brain Fog after Anesthesia

• Gao W, Xie W, Xie W, Jiang C, Kang Z, Liu N. An enriched environment promotes cognitive recovery and cerebral blood flow in aged mice under sevoflurane anaesthesia. Folia Neuropathol. 2024 Aug 21:52539. doi: 10.5114/fn.2024.136017. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39165209.

• Yu Y, Yu J, Wu B, Wang Y, Li Y, Yang Y, Yu Y, Feng J. Enriched environment mitigates cognitive impairment in pre-adolescent mice following repeated neonatal sevoflurane exposure by reducing TTBK1 expression and Tau phosphorylation. Neuropharmacology. 2025 Jan 30:110327. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2025.110327. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39892471.

Environmental Enrichment and Cancer

• Sun VKT, Lam JWY, Ng MHF, Wong WY, Tai WCS, Chow DHK, Cheung AKK, Lau BWM, Cheng ASK, Yee BK. Early life environmental enrichment yields resilience to selected behavioural and brain responses to 5-fluorouracil in mice. Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Jan 16:S0889-1591(25)00018-2. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2025.01.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39826582.

Environmental Enrichment and Developmental Delay

• Grigoletti-Lima GB, Boer PA, Rocha Gontijo JA. An enriched environment restored hippocampal cell patterns and enhanced short-term memory in gestational and breastfeeding protein-restricted male offspring. Brain Res. 2025 Apr 4:149598. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149598. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40189078.

Environmental Enrichment and Memory

• Sanches EF, Tm DS, Mb DC, Avs C, Ramires Junior OV, Sizonenko SV, Netto CA, Ats W. Environmental Enrichment reverses cognitive impairments and hippocampus tissue loss without altering the redox state in rats exposed to severe chronic hyperhomocysteinemia. Behav Brain Res. 2025 Mar 5:115522. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115522. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40054505.

• Atanasov V, Velkova L, Tancheva L, Dolashki A, Kalfin R, Dolashka P. Key Proteins in Rat Cerebral Cortex: Application of Cornu aspersum Extract as a Neuroprotective Agent in Alzheimer's Type Dementia. Molecules. 2024 Nov 14;29(22):5375. doi: 10.3390/molecules29225375. PMID: 39598763; PMCID: PMC11596839.

• Hass S, Liebscher M, Richter A, Fliessbach K, Laske C, Sodenkamp S, Peters O, Hellmann-Regen J, Ersözlü E, Priller J, Spruth EJ, Altenstein S, Röske S, Schneider A, Schütze H, Spottke A, Esser A, Teipel S, Kilimann I, Wiltfang J, Rostamzadeh A, Glanz W, Incesoy EI, Lüsebrink F, Dechent P, Hetzer S, Scheffler K, Wagner M, Jessen F, Düzel E, Glöckner F, Schott BH, Wirth M, Klimecki O; for DELCODE study group. Environmental enrichment is associated with favorable memory-related functional brain activity patterns in older adults. Front Aging Neurosci. 2024 Dec 24;16:1451850. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1451850. PMID: 39777046; PMCID: PMC11704887.

• Lin S, Wang CJ, Yang PK, Li B, Wu Y, Yu KW. Enriched environment improves memory function by promoting synaptic remodeling in vascular dementia rats. Brain Res Bull. 2025 Feb 18;222:111262. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2025.111262. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39978738.

Environmental Enrichment and Mood

• Vega-Rosas A, Flores-Ramos M, Ramírez-Rodríguez GB. Association Between the Enriched Environment Level and Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Brain Sci. 2024 Nov 13;14(11):1137. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14111137. PMID: 39595900; PMCID: PMC11592353.

• Zhang W, Jiang G, Kang H, Wang J, Liu Z, Wang Z, Huang D, Gao A. Environmental Enrichment Exposure Alleviates Geriatric Depressive-Like Symptoms through Regulating Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation. Environ Health (Wash). 2024 Nov 20;3(3):259-270. doi: 10.1021/envhealth.4c00186. PMID: 40144319; PMCID: PMC11934201.

Environmental Enrichment and Inflammation and Pain

• Zhang JD, Zhong ZA, Xing WY. Environmental enrichment for neuropathic pain via modulation of neuroinflammation. Front Mol Neurosci. 2025 Mar 21;18:1547647. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2025.1547647. PMID: 40190342; PMCID: PMC11968435.

Environmental Enrichment and Parkinson's

• Choza JI, Virani M, Kuhn NC, Adams M, Kochmanski J, Bernstein AI. Parkinson's disease-associated alterations in DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation in human brain. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Feb 2:2024.05.21.595193. doi: 10.1101/2024.05.21.595193. PMID: 39975085; PMCID: PMC11838189.

Environmental Enrichment and Prader-Wili Syndrome

• Queen NJ, Zou X, Huang W, Mohammed T, Cao L. Environmental enrichment normalizes metabolic function in the murine model of Prader-Willi syndrome Magel2-null mice. Endocrinology. 2025 Jan 13:bqaf001. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqaf001. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39801003.

Environmental Enrichment and Stroke

• Parambath SK, Krishna N, Krishnamurthy RG. Environmental enrichment: a neurostimulatory approach to aging and ischemic stroke recovery and rehabilitation. Biogerontology. 2025 Apr 16;26(3):92. doi: 10.1007/s10522-025-10232-z. PMID: 40237879.

Environmental Enrichment and Trauma

• Lardenoije R, Smulders MNCA, Morin EL, Howell BR, Guzman D, Meyer JS, Ressler KJ, Sánchez M, Klengel T. A cross-generational methylomic signature of infant maltreatment in newborn rhesus macaques. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Mar 5:S0006-3223(25)01015-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.02.901. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40054762.

• Zhou M, Larsson H, D'Onofrio BM, Landén M, Lichtenstein P, Pettersson E. Association between the childhood rearing environment and general and specific psychopathology factors in middle adulthood: a Swedish National High-Risk Home-Reared versus Adopted-Away Sibling Comparison Study. Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Apr 1. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-02979-1. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40169802.

Environmental Enrichment and Exercise

• Khalil MH. Environmental Affordance for Physical Activity, Neurosustainability, and Brain Health: Quantifying the Built Environment's Ability to Sustain BDNF Release by Reaching Metabolic Equivalents (METs). Brain Sci. 2024 Nov 10;14(11):1133. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14111133. PMID: 39595896; PMCID: PMC11592236.

• Northey JM, Raine LB, Hillman CH. Are there sensitive periods for physical activity to influence the development of executive function in children? J Sport Health Sci. 2024 Nov 28:101015. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2024.101015. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39613293.

Environmental Enrichment and Nutrition

• Pan X, Xiu Y, Huang S, Lai J, Wang X, Cao X, Jiang L. A Compound Nutritional Supplement Relieving the Core Symptoms of Autism Rats. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2025;71(1):34-45. doi: 10.3177/jnsv.71.34. PMID: 40024747.

• Loupy KM, Dawud LM, Zambrano CA, Lee T, Heinze JD, Elsayed AI, Hassell JE Jr, D'Angelo HM, Frank MG, Maier SF, Brenner LA, Lowry CA. Effects of oral administration of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on the proteomic profiles of cerebrospinal fluid and immunoregulatory signaling in the hippocampus of adult male rats. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2025 Mar 3:1-35. doi: 10.1159/000544842. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40031897.

Environmental Enrichment and Social Skills

• Amador P, López M, Cuesta-López I, Jove C 1st, Begega A. Pro-resilient effects of environmental enrichment on social isolation: behavioural and cytochrome c oxidase brain analysis in Wistar adult rats. Behav Brain Res. 2025 Apr 5:115574. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115574. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40194686.

Environmental Enrichment Mechanisms

• Gage FH. Adult Neurogenesis in the Human Dentate Gyrus. Hippocampus. 2025 Jan;35(1):e23655. doi: 10.1002/hipo.23655. PMID: 39648699.

• Torres RF, Llontop N, Espinoza CS, Kerr B. Environmental Enrichment and Epigenetic Changes in the Brain: From the Outside to the Deep Inside. Subcell Biochem. 2025;108:217-230. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-75980-2_6. PMID: 39820864.

• Wagatsuma N, Terada Y, Okuno H, Ageta-Ishihara N. Local connections among excitatory neurons underlie characteristics of enriched environment exposure-induced neuronal response modulation in layers 2/3 of the mouse V1. Front Syst Neurosci. 2025 Feb 19;19:1525717. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2025.1525717. PMID: 40046289; PMCID: PMC11880011.

• Nagabaskaran G, Moonilal V, Skinner M, Miller N. Environmental Enrichment Increases Brain Volume in Snakes. J Comp Neurol. 2025 Mar;533(3):e70043. doi: 10.1002/cne.70043. PMID: 40116129; PMCID: PMC11926773.

• Korenić M, Korenić A, Stamenković V, Dučić T, Andjus P. SR-FTIR Biomolecular Characterization of the Hippocampus: The Role of Tenascin C in Adult Murine Neurogenesis in the Subgranular Zone. Cells. 2025 Mar 14;14(6):435. doi: 10.3390/cells14060435. PMID: 40136684; PMCID: PMC11941197.

• Wang H, Li JT, Liu DN, Zhang XQ, Sun M, Zhang CC, Si TM, Su YA. Environmental enrichment improves deficits in hippocampal neuroplasticity and cognition in prenatally aripiprazole-exposed mouse offspring. Transl Psychiatry. 2025 Mar 28;15(1):102. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03335-1. PMID: 40148276; PMCID: PMC11950651.

• Mohar B, Michel G, Wang YZ, Hernandez V, Grimm JB, Park JY, Patel R, Clarke M, Brown TA, Bergmann C, Gebis KK, Wilen AP, Liu B, Johnson R, Graves A, Tchumatchenko T, Savas JN, Fornasiero EF, Huganir RL, Tillberg PW, Lavis LD, Svoboda K, Spruston N. DELTA: a method for brain-wide measurement of synaptic protein turnover reveals localized plasticity during learning. Nat Neurosci. 2025 Mar 31. doi: 10.1038/s41593-025-01923-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40164741.

• Lawrence AB, Brown SM, Bradford BM, Mabbott NA, Bombail V, Rutherford KMD. Non-neuronal brain biology and its relevance to animal welfare. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2025 Apr 2:106136. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106136. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40185375.

• Torres-Berrío A, Bortolami A, Peña CJ, Nestler EJ. Neurobiology of resilience to early life stress. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2025 Jun 25. doi: 10.1038/s41386-025-02158-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40562842.

Environmental Enrichment Implementation

• Nik Ramli NN, Kamarul Sahrin NA, Nasarudin SNAZ, Hashim MH, Abdul Mutalib M, Mohamad Alwi MN, Abd Rashed A, Ramasamy R. Restricted Daily Exposure of Environmental Enrichment: Bridging the Practical Gap from Animal Studies to Human Application. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Nov 27;21(12):1584. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21121584. PMID: 39767425; PMCID: PMC11675408.

• Khalil MH, Steemers K. Housing Environmental Enrichment, Lifestyles, and Public Health Indicators of Neurogenesis in Humans: A Pilot Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Nov 25;21(12):1553. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21121553. PMID: 39767394; PMCID: PMC11675618.

• Deng W, Hoffman E, Stoller J, Rubsam M, Ku M, Barbieri M, Lacci C, Jayaraman A. Environment Enrichment Strategies for Pre- and Post-Term Infants: A Summarized Communication From Pediatric Physical Therapists. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2025 Apr 1;37(2):265-276. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000001187. Epub 2025 Mar 11. PMID: 40085791.

• Scorza FA, Attis C, Wuo-Silva R, Ciconelli RM, Chaddad-Neto F. Biophilic Design: Healthy Buildings, Healthy Brain. HERD. 2025 Mar 31:19375867251330819. doi: 10.1177/19375867251330819. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40165398.

• Khalil MH. Green Environments for Sustainable Brains: Parameters Shaping Adaptive Neuroplasticity and Lifespan Neurosustainability-A Systematic Review and Future Directions. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Apr 26;22(5):690. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22050690. PMID: 40427807; PMCID: PMC12111129.

• Liu Y, Huang C, Cheng X, Qu W, Wang X, Liu S, Zhang J, Li Y, Huang X, Zhu J, Ma D, Shu Q, Li X. Exposure to the prenatal enriched environment alters maternal gut microbiota and promotes embryonic neurodevelopment via activating the AHR-Src pathway. Sci China Life Sci. 2025 May 23. doi: 10.1007/s11427-024-2870-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40434619.

Rodents as Useful Human Models

• Guo H, Xiao Y, Dong S, Yang J, Zhao P, Zhao T, Cai A, Tang L, Liu J, Wang H, Hua R, Liu R, Wei Y, Sun D, Liu Z, Xia M, He Y, Wu Y, Si T, Womer FY, Xu F, Tang Y, Wang J, Zhang W, Zhang X, Wang F. Bridging animal models and humans: neuroimaging as intermediate phenotypes linking genetic or stress factors to anhedonia. BMC Med. 2025 Jan 23;23(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s12916-025-03850-4. PMID: 39849528; PMCID: PMC11755933.

Environmental Enrichment vs Environmental Deprivation (Stress, Pollution, Isolation)

• Chang R, Wei M, Li C, Jiang Y, Zhang J. Association between epigenome-wide DNA methylation changes and early neurodevelopment in preschool children: Evidence from a former impoverished county in Central China. Gene. 2025 Jan 26:149275. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2025.149275. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39875007.

• Benki-Nugent S, Were FH, Riederer AM, Gatari M, Karr CJ, Seto EY, Mutai BC, Wamithi S, Collett BR, Kinuthia J, Edemba PW, Richardson BA, McClelland RS, Larson TV, Marshall JD, Maleche-Obimbo E. Air pollution exposures in early life and brain development in children (ABC): protocol for a pregnancy cohort study. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2025 Feb 8;9(1):e002758. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-002758. PMID: 39922600; PMCID: PMC11808922.

• Sun Y, An P, Cai Y, Yang W, Fang Y, Liu H, Zhang G, Shan Y, Wang J, Zhang Y, Zhou X. Environmental enrichment reverses noise induced impairments in learning and memory associated with the hippocampus in female rats. Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 3;15(1):11509. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96119-y. PMID: 40181175; PMCID: PMC11968901.

• Akkaya A, Aykan D, Gencturk S, Unal G. Intermittent environmental enrichment induces behavioral despair, while intermittent social isolation impairs spatial learning in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2025 May;250:174001. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2025.174001. Epub 2025 Mar 19. PMID: 40118218.

Environmental Enrichment vs Sensory Enrichment

Touch

• Farhadi M, Afarinesh MR, Sheibani V, Sabzalizadeh M. Effects of enriched environment on barrel cortex and hippocampus function following somatosensory damage in rat. Physiol Behav. 2025 Mar 15;291:114785. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114785. Epub 2024 Dec 20. PMID: 39710130.

Possible Side-Effects of Environmental Enrichment

• de Brito MC, Costa BY, Souza Lima TA, Camarini R. Environmental enrichment induces depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors in male Balb/C mice. Behav Brain Res. 2025 Jan 30:115462. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2025.115462. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39892654.