MICE that are predestined to get Huntington’s disease stay healthier for
longer when they live in a varied environment with plenty of opportunities for
exercise, climbing and exploring, neuroscientists at Oxford University have
discovered. The finding is surprising since, in people, Huntington’s is strongly
genetic, and experts had thought it unlikely to be significantly affected by
environmental factors.
“We didn’t expect this dramatic delay,” says Tony Hannan, who ran the study
with Anton van Dellen and Colin Blakemore. Reporting the findings at the
Australian Neuroscience Society meeting in Melbourne last week, Hannan said they
had expected an enriched environment to…
