PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Catuara-Solarz, Silvina AU - Espinosa-Carrasco, Jose AU - Erb, Ionas AU - Langohr, Klaus AU - Gonzalez, Juan Ramon AU - Notredame, Cedric AU - Dierssen, Mara TI - Combined Treatment With Environmental Enrichment and (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Ameliorates Learning Deficits and Hippocampal Alterations in a Mouse Model of Down Syndrome AID - 10.1523/ENEURO.0103-16.2016 DP - 2016 Sep 01 TA - eneuro PG - ENEURO.0103-16.2016 VI - 3 IP - 5 4099 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/3/5/ENEURO.0103-16.2016.short 4100 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/3/5/ENEURO.0103-16.2016.full SO - eNeuro2016 Sep 01; 3 AB - Intellectual disability in Down syndrome (DS) is accompanied by altered neuro-architecture, deficient synaptic plasticity, and excitation-inhibition imbalance in critical brain regions for learning and memory. Recently, we have demonstrated beneficial effects of a combined treatment with green tea extract containing (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and cognitive stimulation in young adult DS individuals. Although we could reproduce the cognitive-enhancing effects in mouse models, the underlying mechanisms of these beneficial effects are unknown. Here, we explored the effects of a combined therapy with environmental enrichment (EE) and EGCG in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS at young age. Our results show that combined EE-EGCG treatment improved corticohippocampal-dependent learning and memory. Cognitive improvements were accompanied by a rescue of cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) dendritic spine density and a normalization of the proportion of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic markers in CA1 and dentate gyrus.