Recently, a team led by Professor Chen Zhong and Researcher Wang Yi from Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (ZCMU) published a study online in the renowned journal Advanced Science (a top journal of Tier 1 in the Chinese Academy of Sciences), entitled “Enriched Environment Reduces Seizure Susceptibility via Entorhinal Cortex Circuit Augmented Adult Neurogenesis”. This research is the first to discover that enriched environment (EE) exerts anti-seizure effects by activating the glutamatergic neural circuit between the entorhinal cortex and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, enhancing the function of adult-born dentate granule cells (abDGCs). This research provides experimental support for the mechanisms through which EE influences seizure susceptibility and further reveals the significant role of abDGCs in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. It is expected to provide potential new strategies and targets for future epilepsy treatment and lay the foundation for the clinical translation of EE in the treatment of epilepsy.

Traditional Chinese medicine has long embraced the concept of “man-nature correspondence”, which emphasizes the impact of the geographical environment on human health and the principle of adopting different treatment methods according to regional variations. Modern medical research has also confirmed that environmental factors influence various aspects of life and health in multiple dimensions. This research provides experimental support for the mechanisms through which EE influences seizure susceptibility and corroborates the TCM theory that environmental factors play a significant role in disease, enriching the “man-nature correspondence” concept in TCM.

The first authors of the study are Li Zhongxia, a doctoral student at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ZCMU, Chen Liying, a Pharmacist in Charge at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), affiliated with Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, and Fei Fan, a postdoctoral researcher at ZCMU. ZCMU Professor Chen Zhong and Researcher Wang Yi are the corresponding authors.