Effects of Repeated Partial Daily Social Isolation and Treadmill Exercise on Spatial Memory and Hippocampal Long‐Term Potentiation in Male Rats

ABSTRACT Objectives Stress‐related experiences during early developmental periods may influence behavioural outcomes and hippocampal function. Social isolation is widely used as an experimental stress model, while physical exercise is considered a potential behavioural modulator. This study investigated the effects of treadmill exercise on behavioural performance and hippocampal synaptic plasticity following repeated partial daily social isolation in male rats. Methods Male Wistar rats (postnatal day 28) were assigned to control or repeated partial daily social isolation conditions (6 h/day for 6 weeks). Treadmill exercise was applied once daily for 4 weeks, starting after 2 weeks of isolation. Food and water intake and body weight were recorded weekly. Spatial learning and memory were assessed using the Morris Water Maze test, and hippocampal synaptic plasticity was evaluated via long‐term potentiation (LTP) recordings from the dentate gyrus. Results Social isolation and treadmill exercise significantly increased food and water consumption without affecting body weight. Social isolation did not significantly affect spatial learning, memory performance or dentate gyrus LTP. No significant differences were observed in Morris Water Maze performance or LTP measures among groups. Discussion These findings indicate that this moderate, intermittent isolation paradigm did not produce detectable alterations in hippocampal‐dependent spatial memory performance or dentate gyrus synaptic plasticity under the present experimental conditions.