Comparison of the elevated plus and elevated zero mazes in treated and untreated male Sprague–Dawley rats: Effects of anxiolytic and anxiogenic agents

Braun, Amanda A.; Skelton, Matthew R.; Vorhees, Charles V.; Williams, Michael T.

doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2010.09.013

Cited by 163 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…On the other hand, a recent study demonstrated that adult rats kept in EE for eight weeks presented lower levels of anxiety in the elevated zero-maze (EZM), in comparison to animals maintained in standard cages [25]. EZM is an animal model derived from EPM and very similar to it in terms of detecting anxiolytic and anxiogenic drug effects in rats [26]. Thus, it is possible that the four-week exposure to EE, used in the present study, was not long enough to influence state anxiety, as detected by EPM.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental enrichment for adult rats: Effects on trait and state anxiety

Goes

Antunes

Teixeira-Silva

2015

Neuroscience Letters

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Experimental evidence indicates that enriched environment (EE) induces neurobiological and behavioural alterations. EE in early life improves learning and memory and reduces trait and state anxiety. However, the effect of EE established in adulthood has rarely been investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of modifying the levels of trait and/or state anxiety of adult rats exposed to EE. Seventy adult Wistar male rats were first tested in the free-exploratory paradigm (FEP) and were categorized according to their levels of trait anxiety (high, medium and low). Subsequently, half of the animals from each category returned to their home cages (standard condition: SC) and the other half was transferred to an enriched environment (enriched condition: EC). After three weeks, all animals were again tested in FEP. Seven to 10 days later, fifty of the seventy animals were tested on the elevated plus-maze test (EPM). In FEP, EE reduced locomotor activity in the second exposition independently of the anxiety category and, it decreased the levels of trait anxiety of highly anxious rats. No effect of EE was observed on EPM. In conclusion, EE established in adulthood was able to reduce high trait anxiety, a major risk factor for anxiety disorders.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental enrichment for adult rats: Effects on trait and state anxiety

Goes

Antunes

Teixeira-Silva

2015

Neuroscience Letters

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“…All animals were exposed to an EZM for assessment of anxiety-like behaviors as previously described on day 12 of treatment (Carvalho et al 2010b; Ambrose-Lanci et al 2010). As a modified version of the elevated plus maze, the EZM is used extensively to examine anxiety like phenotypes in rodents (Braun et al 2011), particularly after a pharmacological intervention (Kulkarni et al 2007). Anxiolytics, including the benzodiazepine diazepam, increase the amount of time animals spend in the open arms of the maze, and the amount of time engaged in exploratory behaviors (Shepherd et al 1994).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic alcohol exposure differentially affects activation of female locus coeruleus neurons and the subcellular distribution of corticotropin releasing factor receptors

Retson

Reyes

Bockstaele

2015

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry

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Understanding the neurobiological bases for sex differences in alcohol dependence is needed to help guide the development of individualized therapies for alcohol abuse disorders. In the present study, alcohol-induced adaptations in (1) anxiety-like behavior, (2) patterns of c-Fos activation and (3) subcellular distribution of corticotropin releasing factor receptor in locus coeruleus (LC) neurons was investigated in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats that were chronically exposed to ethanol using a liquid diet. Results confirm and extend reports by others showing that chronic ethanol exposure produces an anxiogenic-like response in both male and female subjects. Ethanol-induced sex differences were observed with increased c-Fos expression in LC neurons of female ethanol-treated subjects compared to controls or male subjects. Results also reveal sex differences in the subcellular distribution of the CRFr in LC-noradrenergic neurons with female subjects exposed to ethanol exhibiting a higher frequency of plasmalemmal CRFrs. These adaptations have implications for LC neuronal activity and its neural targets across the sexes. Considering the important role of the LC in ethanol-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the present results indicate important sex differences in feed-forward regulation of the HPA axis that may render alcohol dependent females more vulnerable to subsequent stress exposure.

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“…Results were analyzed using ANY-maze software (Stoelting, Wood Dale, Ill., USA) and videos were spot-checked by hand for accuracy. As previously described, differences in arm entries provide data regarding activity level whereas differences in arm times reflect alterations in anxiety level [28]. Videos were later watched by an observer to manually record the number of protected and unprotected head dips.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Hyperactivity and Anxiety Responses in Dopamine Transporter-Deficient Mice

Carpenter¹,

Saborido²,

Stanwood

2012

Dev Neurosci

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Dopamine (DA) is a catecholamine neurotransmitter that regulates many aspects of motivated behavior in animals. Extracellular DA is highly regulated by the presynaptic high-affinity dopamine transporter (DAT), and drug- or genetically induced deficiencies in DAT function result in loss of DA reuptake. Mice in which DAT expression has been ablated have been previously proposed to be a relevant model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and have led to mechanistic insights regarding psychostimulant drug actions. However, very little previous work has emphasized the biobehavioral development of DAT-deficient mice. We therefore examined motoric, emotional and cognitive phenotypes in preadolescent (P22–26) DAT mutant mice. Consistent with previous reports in adult DAT^–/– mice, we observed a hyperlocomotive phenotype in preadolescent mice across multiple assays. Somewhat surprisingly, spatial working memory in a Y-maze appeared intact, suggesting that cognitive phenotypes may emerge relatively late in development following hyperdopaminergia. Anxiety levels appeared to be reduced in DAT^–/– mice, as defined by elevated plus maze and light-dark preference assays. No significant differences were observed between wild-type and heterozygous mice, suggesting a minimal impact of DAT haploinsufficiency on neurobehavioral status. Taken together, these data for the first time establish behavioral phenotypes of DAT mutant mice during development and suggest complex developmental stage-dependent effects of DA signaling on cognitive and emotional behaviors.

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Comparison of the elevated plus and elevated zero mazes in treated and untreated male Sprague–Dawley rats: Effects of anxiolytic and anxiogenic agents

Cited by 163 publications

References 42 publications

Environmental enrichment for adult rats: Effects on trait and state anxiety

Environmental enrichment for adult rats: Effects on trait and state anxiety

Chronic alcohol exposure differentially affects activation of female locus coeruleus neurons and the subcellular distribution of corticotropin releasing factor receptors

Development of Hyperactivity and Anxiety Responses in Dopamine Transporter-Deficient Mice

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