Analysis of Grooming Behavior and Its Utility in Studying Animal Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

Smolinsky, Amanda N.; Bergner, Carisa L.; LaPorte, Justin L.; Kalueff, Allan V.

doi:10.1007/978-1-60761-303-9_2

Cited by 86 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…However, self‐grooming in rodents is a complex behavior that can be interpreted in various ways, including changes in anxiety‐like state . For instance, stress‐evoked grooming is characterized by frequent short bouts of self‐grooming activity; while we failed to observe changes in the number of bouts, we did notice that grooming bouts were shorter in PNS HET mice, which could support the idea of increased anxiety‐like behaviors. However, others reported that anxiogenic drugs increase total amount of self‐grooming, which is contrary to what we observed in PNS HET mice.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

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Npas4 deficiency and prenatal stress interact to affect social recognition in mice

Heslin

Coutellier

2018

Genes Brain and Behavior

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Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia have an expansive array of reported genetic and environmental contributing factors. However, none of these factors alone can account for a substantial proportion of cases of either disorder. Instead, many gene-by-environment interactions are responsible for neurodevelopmental disturbances that lead to these disorders. The current experiment used heterozygous knock-out mice to examine a potential interaction between 2 factors commonly linked to neurodevelopmental disorders and cognitive deficit: imbalanced excitatory/inhibitory signaling in the cortex and prenatal stress (PNS) exposure. Both of these factors have been linked to disrupt GABAergic signaling in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a common feature of neurodevelopmental disorders. The neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (Npas4) gene is instrumental in regulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance in the cortex and hippocampus in response to activation. Npas4 heterozygous and wild-type male and female mice were exposed to either PNS or standard gestation, then evaluated during adulthood in social and anxiety behavioral measures. The combination of PNS and Npas4 deficiency in male mice impaired social recognition. This behavioral deficit was associated with decreased parvalbumin and cFos protein expression in the infralimbic region of the PFC following social stimulation in Npas4 heterozygous males. In contrast, females displayed fewer behavioral effects and molecular changes in PFC in response to PNS and decreased Npas4.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…46,62 However, self-grooming in rodents is a complex behavior that can be interpreted in various ways, including changes in anxiety-like state. 63 For instance, stress-evoked grooming is characterized by frequent short bouts of self-grooming activity 64 ;…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Npas4 deficiency and prenatal stress interact to affect social recognition in mice

Heslin

Coutellier

2018

Genes Brain and Behavior

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“…Jumping during the behavioral test was clearly escaping behavior (Archer, ; Martin & Réale, ). The interpretation of grooming is equivocal (Komorowska & Pisula, ), but during our observations, individuals that groomed a lot followed the cephalocaudal rule (grooming from the head to the tail), which occurs mostly in low stress environments (Smolinsky & Kalueff, ). We therefore argue that this behavioral axis represents the way in which the individual experiences stress and will call this behavioral axis “stress sensitivity.” Here, individuals that groom a lot are less stress sensitive than individuals that jumped more frequently.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 54%

Relationship between population density and viral infection: A role for personality?

Broecke

Mariën

Sabuni

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Conspecific density and animal personality (consistent among‐individual differences in behavior) may both play an important role in disease ecology. Nevertheless, both factors have rarely been studied together but may provide insightful information in understanding pathogen transmission dynamics. In this study, we investigated how both personality and density affect viral infections both direct and indirectly, using the multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) and Morogoro arenavirus (MORV) as a model system. Using a replicated semi‐natural experiment, we found a positive correlation between MORV antibody presence and density, suggesting that MORV infection is density‐dependent. Surprisingly, slower explorers were more likely to have antibodies against MORV compared to highly explorative individuals. However, exploration was positively correlated with density which may suggest a negative, indirect effect of density on MORV infection. We have shown here that in order to better understand disease ecology, both personality and density should be taken into account.

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“…Intermediate scores reflect the degree and frequency at which fur was groomed and/or maintained on various regions of the paired body, including muzzle, eyes, head, torso and legs, adapted from guidelines from Smolinsky et al , 2009 (refs. 28,29). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young blood reverses age-related impairments in cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in mice

Villeda¹,

Plambeck²,

Middeldorp³

et al. 2014

Nat Med

914

811

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As human lifespan increases, a greater fraction of the population is suffering from age-related cognitive impairments, making it important to elucidate a means to combat the effects of aging1,2. Here we report that exposure of an aged animal to young blood can counteract and reverse pre-existing effects of brain aging at the molecular, structural, functional and cognitive level. Genome-wide microarray analysis of heterochronic parabionts—in which circulatory systems of young and aged animals are connected—identified synaptic plasticity–related transcriptional changes in the hippocampus of aged mice. Dendritic spine density of mature neurons increased and synaptic plasticity improved in the hippocampus of aged heterochronic parabionts. At the cognitive level, systemic administration of young blood plasma into aged mice improved age-related cognitive impairments in both contextual fear conditioning and spatial learning and memory. Structural and cognitive enhancements elicited by exposure to young blood are mediated, in part, by activation of the cyclic AMP response element binding protein (Creb) in the aged hippocampus. Our data indicate that exposure of aged mice to young blood late in life is capable of rejuvenating synaptic plasticity and improving cognitive function.

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Analysis of Grooming Behavior and Its Utility in Studying Animal Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

Cited by 86 publications

References 56 publications

Npas4 deficiency and prenatal stress interact to affect social recognition in mice

Npas4 deficiency and prenatal stress interact to affect social recognition in mice

Relationship between population density and viral infection: A role for personality?

Young blood reverses age-related impairments in cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in mice

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