Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice
Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans, it may very well describe the lives of many laboratory animals housed in small, barren cages....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.899219/full |
| _version_ | 1811308714261479424 |
|---|---|
| author | Paul Mieske Ute Hobbiesiefken Carola Fischer-Tenhagen Céline Heinl Katharina Hohlbaum Pia Kahnau Jennifer Meier Jenny Wilzopolski Daniel Butzke Juliane Rudeck Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Kai Diederich |
| author_facet | Paul Mieske Ute Hobbiesiefken Carola Fischer-Tenhagen Céline Heinl Katharina Hohlbaum Pia Kahnau Jennifer Meier Jenny Wilzopolski Daniel Butzke Juliane Rudeck Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Kai Diederich |
| author_sort | Paul Mieske |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans, it may very well describe the lives of many laboratory animals housed in small, barren cages. To make the cages less monotonous, environmental enrichment is often proposed. Although housing in a stimulating environment is still used predominantly as a luxury good and for treatment in preclinical research, enrichment is increasingly recognized to improve animal welfare. To gain insight into how stimulating environments influence the welfare of laboratory rodents, we conducted a systematic review of studies that analyzed the effect of enriched environment on behavioral parameters of animal well–being. Remarkably, a considerable number of these parameters can be associated with symptoms of boredom. Our findings show that a stimulating living environment is essential for the development of natural behavior and animal welfare of laboratory rats and mice alike, regardless of age and sex. Conversely, confinement and under-stimulation has potentially detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of laboratory rodents. We show that boredom in experimental animals is measurable and does not have to be accepted as inevitable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T09:28:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-de94f106ffc44b17bddc1af3083730a9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T09:28:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-de94f106ffc44b17bddc1af3083730a92022-12-22T02:52:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692022-08-01910.3389/fvets.2022.899219899219Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and micePaul Mieske0Ute Hobbiesiefken1Carola Fischer-Tenhagen2Céline Heinl3Katharina Hohlbaum4Pia Kahnau5Jennifer Meier6Jenny Wilzopolski7Daniel Butzke8Juliane Rudeck9Lars Lewejohann10Lars Lewejohann11Kai Diederich12German Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyInstitute of Animal Welfare, Animal Behavior and Laboratory Animal Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyGerman Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyBoredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans, it may very well describe the lives of many laboratory animals housed in small, barren cages. To make the cages less monotonous, environmental enrichment is often proposed. Although housing in a stimulating environment is still used predominantly as a luxury good and for treatment in preclinical research, enrichment is increasingly recognized to improve animal welfare. To gain insight into how stimulating environments influence the welfare of laboratory rodents, we conducted a systematic review of studies that analyzed the effect of enriched environment on behavioral parameters of animal well–being. Remarkably, a considerable number of these parameters can be associated with symptoms of boredom. Our findings show that a stimulating living environment is essential for the development of natural behavior and animal welfare of laboratory rats and mice alike, regardless of age and sex. Conversely, confinement and under-stimulation has potentially detrimental effects on the mental and physical health of laboratory rodents. We show that boredom in experimental animals is measurable and does not have to be accepted as inevitable.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.899219/fullanimal behavioranimal welfareenriched environmentboredomabnormal behaviorimpoverished environment |
| spellingShingle | Paul Mieske Ute Hobbiesiefken Carola Fischer-Tenhagen Céline Heinl Katharina Hohlbaum Pia Kahnau Jennifer Meier Jenny Wilzopolski Daniel Butzke Juliane Rudeck Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Kai Diederich Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice Frontiers in Veterinary Science animal behavior animal welfare enriched environment boredom abnormal behavior impoverished environment |
| title | Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| title_full | Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| title_fullStr | Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| title_short | Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| title_sort | bored at home a systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice |
| topic | animal behavior animal welfare enriched environment boredom abnormal behavior impoverished environment |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.899219/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulmieske boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT utehobbiesiefken boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT carolafischertenhagen boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT celineheinl boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT katharinahohlbaum boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT piakahnau boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT jennifermeier boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT jennywilzopolski boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT danielbutzke boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT julianerudeck boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT larslewejohann boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT larslewejohann boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice AT kaidiederich boredathomeasystematicreviewontheeffectofenvironmentalenrichmentonthewelfareoflaboratoryratsandmice |