Stress exposure can produce profound changes in physiology and behavior that can impair health and well-being. Of note, stress exposure is linked to anxiety disorders and depression in humans. The widespread impact of these disorders warrants investigation into treatments to mitigate the harmful effects of stress. Pharmacological treatments fail to help many with these disorders, so recent work has focused on non-pharmacological alternatives. One of the most promising of these alternatives is environmental enrichment (EE). In rodents, EE includes social, physical, and cognitive stimulation for the animal, in the form of larger cages, running wheels, and toys. EE successfully reduces the maladaptive effects of various stressors, both as treatment and prophylaxis. While we know that EE can have beneficial effects under stress conditions, the morphological and molecular mechanisms underlying these behavioral effects are still not well understood. EE is known to alter neurogenesis, dendrite development, and expression of neurotrophic growth factors, effects that vary by type of enrichment, age, and sex. To add to this complexity, EE has differential effects in different brain regions. Understanding how EE exerts its protective effects on morphological and molecular levels could hold the key to developing more targeted pharmacological treatments. In this review, we summarize the literature on the morphological and molecular consequences of EE and stress in key emotional regulatory pathways in the brain, the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala. The similarities and differences among these regions provide some insight into stress-EE interaction that may be exploited in future efforts toward prevention of, and intervention in, stress-related diseases.

压力会导致生理和行为发生深刻的变化，从而损害健康和福祉。值得注意的是，压力暴露与人类的焦虑症和抑郁症有关。这些疾病的广泛影响需要研究减轻压力有害影响的治疗方法。药物治疗无法帮助许多患有这些疾病的人，因此最近的工作集中在非药物替代方案上。这些替代方案中最有前途的之一是环境浓缩（EE）。对于啮齿类动物，EE 包括以更大的笼子、跑轮和玩具的形式对动物进行社交、身体和认知刺激。 EE 成功地减少了各种压力源的适应不良影响，无论是作为治疗还是预防。虽然我们知道 EE 在应激条件下可以产生有益的影响，但这些行为影响背后的形态和分子机制仍不清楚。众所周知，EE 会改变神经发生、树突发育和神经营养生长因子的表达，其影响因富集类型、年龄和性别而异。更复杂的是，EE 对不同的大脑区域具有不同的影响。了解 EE 如何在形态和分子水平上发挥其保护作用可能是开发更有针对性的药物治疗的关键。在这篇综述中，我们总结了关于 EE 和压力在大脑、海马体、前额皮质和杏仁核关键情绪调节通路中的形态和分子后果的文献。这些区域之间的相似性和差异为压力与EE相互作用提供了一些见解，可在未来预防和干预压力相关疾病的努力中加以利用。