Cold stress and habenular lesion effects on rat behaviors.

Nielson, Harold C.; McIver, Anstiss H.

doi:10.1152/jappl.1966.21.2.655

Cited by 35 publications

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“…Although several studies have demonstrated altered behavioral activity (hyperactivity) after habenula or FR lesions and others have hinted at a connection to the circadian system, no study has tested whether the habenula regulates the temporal organization of motor activity. Previous studies demonstrating FR lesion‐induced hyperactivity used short‐duration (3–24 min) exploratory tests conducted during the light phase that are not sufficient to assess the temporal profile of spontaneous motor activity (Nielson & McIver, 1966; Lee & Huang, 1988; Thornton et al. , 1994; Murphy et al.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A role for the habenula in the regulation of locomotor activity cycles

Paul

Indic

Schwartz

2011

European Journal of Neuroscience

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While much is known about the regulation of the circadian rest-activity cycle by the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus in nocturnal rodents, little is known about the neural substrates that regulate the temporal organization of nocturnal activity within the active phase. In this paper, data are presented in Syrian hamsters to implicate the habenula – believed to be involved in motivation, reward, and motor control – as a candidate site for such a role. First, by examining hamsters during the day and night and by introducing a “novel” running wheel in order to induce daytime motor activity, we show that immunoreactive c-Fos expression in the lateral and medial habenula is related to motor activity / arousal. Second, by transecting the habenula’s major efferent pathway (fasciculus retroflexus), we show that the interruption of habenula neural output alters the daily amount of motor activity; lengthens the period of the circadian rest-activity rhythm; and disrupts the species-typical pattern of nocturnal motor activity, measured as either wheel running behavior or general locomotor activity. Instead of the usual pattern of nighttime locomotion, characterized by a prolonged bout of elevated activity in the early night followed by shorter sporadic bouts or the cessation of activity altogether, lesioned animals exhibited a more homogeneous, undifferentiated temporal profile extending across the night. These data suggest a previously unrecognized function of the habenula whereby it regulates the temporal pattern of activity occurring within a circadian rest-activity window set by the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, 1992; Valjakka et al. , 1998), and induces hyperactivity (Nielson & McIver, 1966; Lee & Huang, 1988; Thornton et al. , 1994; Murphy et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A role for the habenula in the regulation of locomotor activity cycles

Paul

Indic

Schwartz

2011

European Journal of Neuroscience

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“…Nevertheless, it would be premature to dismiss the possibility of some kind of inhibitory deficit interacting with reduced fearfulness in these and other findings. For example, the impairments in shock avoidance observed by Nielson and McIver (1966) in the T-maze situation, which had a position-reversal component, were considered by the authors to be related to inhibitory deficits . Their rats would run to an " incorrect" bar in the maze and then turn around and run directly to the "correct" bar and press it.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habenular lesions and avoidance learning deficits in albino rats

Rausch

Long

1974

Psychobiology

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Albino rats were given either habenular lesions or control operations and evaluated postsurgically during one-way active avoidance and passive avoidance training. Rats with habenular lesions, particularly those with damage in the posterior aspects of the habenular complex, were significantly impaired during acquisition of the active avo idance task. No significant differences existed between the two groups on either of two passive avoidance measures. The results are discussed in conjunction with the findings of other research, and hypotheses of either reduced fearfulness or impairment in motor inhibition mechanisms are suggested as frameworks for future research.The functional significance of the habenular nucleus as a major waystation for reciprocal limbic midbrain connections (Herrick, 1948 ;Nauta , 1958Nauta , , 1960 has been emphasized by recent studies finding changes in a variety of avoidance behaviors following habenular lesions. These effects on avoidance behaviors are still controversial, since different investigato rs have cited both deficits and increased efficiency in both active and passive avoidance learning paradigms.Nielson and his associates (Davis, Stevenson , McIver, & Nielson, 1966 ; found that rats with habenular lesions learned a step-down passive avoidance response faster than did controls, but were impaired in the acquisition of a conditioned active avoidance response to shock in a T-maze. On the other hand , Van Hoesen and his coworkers (Van Hoesen, MacDougall, & Mitchell , 1969 ;Wilson, Mitchell, & Van Hoesen, 1972) reported that habenular lesions impaired food-related passive avoidance , while enhancing two-way shuttle box avoidance perform ance. Large medial thalamic lesions, which included damage to the habenula, have been found to severely impair one-way active avoidance acquisition (Delacour, ' 1971 ;Vanderwolf, 1967Vanderwolf, , 1971, although Delacour (1971) stated that lesions limited to the habenular complex did not result in impairment in this task. Nevertheless, Tigner (1972) has reported impairment in one-way avoidance learning after lesions restricted to either the habenular nucleus or the dorsornedial thalamus.Such discrepancies are not uncommon in the behavioral literature for several reasons, including the difficulty of replicating brain damage with the current techniques for making lesions, the changes in apparatus and shock levels from one study to another, and the variability in the responses required of the S in the different behavioral situations. The present study was undertaken with the intention of rrururruzmg these confounds by investigating the effects of habenular lesions in the same animals on two types of avoidance responding , one-way active avoidance and passive avoidance, in the same apparatus. METHOD Subjects and SurgeryThirty-four Holtzman albino rats , approximately 135 days old and weighing 265-330 g at the time of testing, were used as Ss. All the animals were maintained on ad lib Purina Lab Chow and 15 min of water per day . The rat s were assigne...

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“…2b). Indeed, rats with habenula lesions show impairments in 55–57 and furthermore, RMTg neurons are excited by various kinds of aversive stimuli 54 .…”

Section: Avoidance Of Punishmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The habenula: from stress evasion to value-based decision-making

2010

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Surviving in a world with hidden rewards and dangers requires choosing the appropriate behaviours. Recent discoveries indicate that the habenula plays a prominent part in such behavioural choice through its effects on neuromodulator systems, in particular the dopamine and serotonin systems. By inhibiting dopamine-releasing neurons, habenula activation leads to the suppression of motor behaviour when an animal fails to obtain a reward or anticipates an aversive outcome. Moreover, the habenula is involved in behavioural responses to pain, stress, anxiety, sleep and reward, and its dysfunction is associated with depression, schizophrenia and drug-induced psychosis. As a highly conserved structure in the brain, the habenula provides a fundamental mechanism for both survival and decision-making.

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Cold stress and habenular lesion effects on rat behaviors.

Cited by 35 publications

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A role for the habenula in the regulation of locomotor activity cycles

A role for the habenula in the regulation of locomotor activity cycles

Habenular lesions and avoidance learning deficits in albino rats

The habenula: from stress evasion to value-based decision-making

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