Memories are stored in brain circuits, sometimes referred to as engrams. Forgetting happens when these neural activity patterns fail to be reactivated by retrieval cues. Neuroplasticity can destabilize existing memory circuits by altering the fidelity of neural signals and contribute to forgetting. Existing research has described plasticity in grey matter that contributes to forgetting; however, plasticity within white matter has not been explored. Here, brain plasticity was induced after contextual fear conditioning by housing mice in environmentally-enriched multilevel cages (EE) for four weeks. EE mice demonstrated forgetting as measured by reduced time spent freezing during the fear conditioning test compared to mice housed in standard cages (SE) (EE
Journal article
2026-02-04T00:00:00+00:00
497
Contextual fear conditioning, Environmental enrichment, MRI, Memory, Mice, Myelin, Animals, White Matter, Male, Mice, Fear, Neuronal Plasticity, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Housing, Animal, Conditioning, Classical, Memory, Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging