ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The environmental enrichment and behavioral research programs were expanded in 2005. An additional environmental enrichment technician position was created to support an enhanced enrichment program. Accelerated progress was made in expanding the use of social housing for research animals and the implementation of a variety of enrichment techniques. More intensive behavioral monitoring of large social groups was implemented in order to guide social management decisions. Environments were enhanced with additional structures in corrals and corncribs and an increased variety of foods and portable objects. Positive reinforcement training methods were incorporated into several research projects. The Environmental Enrichment and Behavioral Research Coordinator conducts collaborative research with scientists and graduate students in the Department of Pharmacology at the Tulane University School of Medicine, the Tulane University Center for Gene Therapy, the Department of Psychology at Southeastern Louisiana University, and the Department of Animal Resources at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center.