Age-associated sex differences in response to food deprivation in two animal tests of anxiety

Genn, Rachel F.; Tucci, Sonia; Thomas, Amy; Edwards, Jessica; File, Sandra E.

doi:10.1016/s0149-7634(03)00017-4

Cited by 65 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This suggests, perhaps surprisingly, that in this group, dietary restriction had some anxiolytic effect. Thus we have replicated in a larger sample of animals the previously reported anxiolytic responses in the plusmaze following dietary restriction (Genn et al, 2003). However, no significant effects of food deprivation were found in the social interaction test (Genn et al, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Thus we have replicated in a larger sample of animals the previously reported anxiolytic responses in the plusmaze following dietary restriction (Genn et al, 2003). However, no significant effects of food deprivation were found in the social interaction test (Genn et al, 2003). Factor analysis has shown that measures from the two tests load on independent factors of anxiety (File, 1992), and thus it may be that dieting can differentially affect different anxiety states.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

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Dietary Restriction and Nicotine can Reduce Anxiety in Female Rats

Genn

Tucci

Edwards

et al. 2003

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Anxiety may play a role in the initiation of smoking and there is evidence to suggest that sex and age may predetermine responses to nicotine. At present, the greatest increase in smoking is in women and it is often accompanied by dieting. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the impact of dietary restriction might modify the effects of nicotine in female adult and adolescent rats. The effects of nicotine in the elevated plus-maze test of anxiety were compared in free-feeding animals and those subjected to dietary restriction that reduced body weight to 85% of free-feeding weight. In nondeprived adult females, nicotine (0.05-0.5 mg/kg, s.c.) reduced the percentage of time spent on the open arms, indicating anxiogenic effects. However, the effects of nicotine were dramatically changed in food-restricted adult females and 0.05 mg/kg had a striking anxiolytic effect. No significant effects of nicotine were found in the adolescent female rats, suggesting a role of circulating sex hormones in modulating nicotine's effects on anxiety. However, in the adolescent females, dietary restriction significantly increased the percentages of time spent and entries onto the open arms, without changing closed arm entries, indicating an anxiolytic effect. These results raise the important possibility that, in prepubertal girls, dietary restriction may have anxiolytic effects and this might contribute to the onset of anorexia. Circulating female hormones reduce this effect, but in adult females the combination of dietary restriction and nicotine may have important anxiolytic effects that impact on the initiation of regular smoking.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Dietary Restriction and Nicotine can Reduce Anxiety in Female Rats

Genn

Tucci

Edwards

et al. 2003

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…Exploration of the aversive, open arms of the elevated plus-maze was similar in adolescents and adults; while exploration of the aversive center of the novel open field was lower in peri-but not early adolescents than adults. These data concur with the finding that 4-week old Swiss Webster mice were no different from 8-week olds on the elevated plus-maze at baseline [48] (see also [21]), but not with another report that 7-week, but not 5-week old CD-1 mice showed lesser anxiety-like behavior in this test than adults [34], or with data variously reporting either relatively increased or decreased anxiety-like behavior in adolescents rats in both the elevated plus-maze, light/dark exploration test and the social interaction test [9,13,15,18,25,41,43,51]. Such differences may be due to methodological differences between studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…For example, adolescent rats have been found to exhibit either lesser, greater or normal levels of anxiety-like behavior in various behavioral assays as compared to adults [9,13,15,18,25,41,43,51]. In addition, a number of studies have shown that conditioned fear responses to footshock in rats emerges in the early adolescent period (reviewed in [6,23,24,47]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogeny of fear-, anxiety- and depression-related behavior across adolescence in C57BL/6J mice

Hefner¹,

Holmes²

2007

Behavioural Brain Research

163

123

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Adolescence is characterized by behavioral traits such as emotional lability and impulsivity that are associated with increased vulnerability to affective illness and addictions. Research in rodents has found that adolescent rats and mice differ from adults on measures of anxiety-like behavior, noveltyseeking and stress-responsivity. The present study sought to extend these data by evaluating fear-, anxiety-and depression-related behaviors in male C57BL/6J mice aged four (early adolescent), six (peri-adolescent) or eight (early adult) weeks of age. Age-groups were compared on: Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction, anxiety-like behavior and exploratory locomotion (using elevated plusmaze and novel open field), and depression-related behavior (via forced swim test). Results showed that early adolescent mice exhibited enhanced fear conditioning, but extinguished at a similar rate as adults. There were no major differences in anxiety-like behavior across age-groups, although early adolescent and peri-adolescent mice exhibited less exploratory locomotion than adults. Depressionrelated immobility behavior in the forced swim test was lower in early adolescents than adult mice across three test exposures. Present findings in the C57BL/6J inbred strain add to growing evidence of changes in rodent fear-and stress-related behaviors across the developmental transition from juvenility through adulthood. Understanding the neural basis of these ontogenic changes could provide insight into factors could provide insight into the pathogenesis and treatment of affective disorders that have their origins in adolescence.

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“…Heiderstadt showed that male rats that received approximately 40% of the amount consumed by freely fed animals, or a calorie restriction of 60%, had increased explorative activity and ambulation in the open field test (10). Addi-tionally, male rats that maintained 85% of their body weight compared with that of control animals showed more entries into the open arms and a greater percentage of time in the open arms of the elevated plus maze (22). Three weeks of calorie restriction (75% of the usual voluntary food intake) in rats led to more entries into the anxiety-provoking (open) arms, indicating less anxiety (23).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%