Preliminary evidence for the effects of environmental complexity on hybridization of rat brain RNA to rat unique DNA.

Hybridization to unique DNA by RNA from brain or liver of rats given varying degrees of experience was investigated. RNA from brain of environmentally enriched rats hybridized to more unique DNA than did brain RNA from nonenriched controls. No significant differences were observed with liver RNA. This provides preliminary evidence for an increased transcription of the unique sequences of DNA in the enriched animals. The technique used has great promise for the investigation of experientially-induced alterations in gene expression.