Enrichment. I associate this word with study hall because the teachers of Absarokee Highschool thought it was a clever way to get students to actually study. Really enrichment is improving or enhancing the value of something. Now, whether calling study hall “enrichment” improved the quality of my education is debatable but, recent research has found that enriching experiences modify the structure of the brain. This is called brain plasticity. Experiences change the nervous system structurally and functionally, and effectively produce a protective reserve that sustains brain function with aging and the onset of diseases.
There are two kinds of protective reserves, brain and cognitive. Brain reserve is the physiological qualities of the brain such as the number of neurons and synapses and the molecular processes maintained by the brain. Cognitive reserve, on the other hand, is the psychological ability to make use of the brain reserve. Building and preserving these reserves protects the brain from deterioration or malfunction of neurochemical processes.
Cognitive reserve is preserved through social, mental, and physical engagement. Research on social interactions such as marital status, living arrangement, parenthood, and friendship have shown to have protective effects on the cognitive reserve. Similarly, activities that are mentally demanding, high education, and complex work are protective of the cognitive reserve as well. Physically, regular exercise and a healthy diet rich in antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids has been associated with the decreased risk for dementia.
Brain reserve is primarily tested in animal models, as it encompasses the actual anatomy of the brain. In many studies, environmental enrichment induced brain plasticity through cellular and molecular changes. Cellularly, enrichment fosters neurogenesis, gliogenesis, angiogenesis, and synaptogenesis.
- Neurogenesis: The generation of new, functional neurons
- Gliogenesis: The generation of astrocytes, which provide structural and functional support to neurons, oligodendrites that facilitate neurotransmission, and microglia that dispose of waste material creating space for neurogenesis.
- Angiogenesis: The formation of blood vessels
- Synaptogenesis: The formation of synapses for neurotransmission
At the molecular level, enrichment changes gene expression of certain proteins. These changes facilitate changes in concentrations of neurotransmitters and neurotrophins. Neurotransmitters are involved in the neurotransmission across synapses. Neurotrophins are central to growth and proliferation. Interestingly, there has been some variability in the location in the brain and how neurotransmitters and neurotrophins increase. For the most part, neurotrophins increase; however, neurtransmitters and the receptors there of are not as definitive.
Now that we know what enrichment does, what is enrichment? As mentioned in the cognitive reserve section, neuroprotection is based on social, mental, and physical factors. These three areas are considered the components of enrichment. For testing animal models, treatment groups are afforded social interaction through placing multiple organisms in one confinement. Mental enrichment is applied by allowing the animals access to objects that the organisms can forage for or use in one form or another. Finally, the physical component of enrichment is applied by the type of diet afforded the animals and the access to exercise, such as the size of the confinement and exercise machines.
Increased enrichment resulted in increased neuroprotection through the cellular and molecular processes discussed up above. Enrichment occurs through social, mental, and physical engagement. Neuroprotection can decrease cognitive decline with age and as a result of a degenerative brain disease. Therefore, enrichment is GOOD!
Maybe my teachers were on to something, in calling study hall enrichment. Although, I think all my classmates can attest that high school “enrichment” lacked social interaction as we were not allowed to talk, mental engagement unless you worked on homework, and physical enriching as food and moving was not allowed. So maybe anti-enrichment is a better word?
