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 hasten the onset of the symptoms, rather than delaying it.
"It's enormous. It's the first evidence that by manipulating the environment you can delay the onsetand possibly the severityof the disease," says Richard Faull, an expert in HD at the University of Auckland.
But the effects may be less dramatic ...
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