Dissociation between behavioral and corticosterone responses on repeated exposures to cat odor

File, Sandra E.; Zangrossi, Hélio; Sanders, Fiona L.; Mabbutt, Peter S.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(93)90333-b

Cited by 137 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In addition to BI, ferret exposure invoked a marked increase in plasma corticosterone concentrations similar to published reports demonstrating elevated plasma corticosterone following exposure of a rat to either a predator or the odor of a predator including the fox odor TMT (File et al, 1993;Adamec et al, 1998;Blanchard et al, 1998;Perrot-Sinal et al, 1999;Morrow et al, 2000). Similarly, exposure to the odor of a ferret has been reported to increase rat corticosterone levels (Masini et al, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Predator threat induces behavioral inhibition, pituitary-adrenal activation and changes in amygdala CRF-binding protein gene expression

Roseboom

Nanda

Bakshi

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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SummaryBehavioral inhibition (BI) is an adaptive defensive response to threat; however, extreme BI is associated with anxiety-related psychopathology. When rats are exposed to a natural predator they display stress-and anxiety-related behavioral alterations and physiological activation. To develop a preclinical rodent model to study mechanisms underlying human BI and anxiety, we examined the extent to which ferret exposure elicits anxiety-related BI and HPA and amygdala activation of the CRF system. In the first experiment, BI and other behaviors were assessed in the presence or absence of a ferret. In the second experiment, ferret-induced corticosterone release and changes in brain cfos expression were assessed. In the final experiment, gene chip and quantitative real time-PCR analyses were performed on amygdala tissue from control and ferret-exposed rats. Ferret exposure increased BI and submissive posturing, as well as plasma corticosterone and the number of Fospositive cells in several brain regions including the amygdala. Gene expression analysis revealed increased amygdalar mRNA for CRF-binding protein, but not the CRF 1 receptor, CRF 2 receptor or CRF. In rodents, ferret exposure can be used to elicit anxiety-related BI, which is associated with HPA and amygdala activation. Since the amygdala and the CRF system have been implicated in adaptive and maladaptive anxiety responses in humans, these data support use of our rodent model to further investigate mechanisms underlying anxiety-related psychopathology in humans.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Predator threat induces behavioral inhibition, pituitary-adrenal activation and changes in amygdala CRF-binding protein gene expression

Roseboom

Nanda

Bakshi

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Of particular relevance to the current study, rats that have been exposed to a cat and/or cat odors, as a predator stressor, also display defensive fear responses and opioidmediated analgesia (Lester & Fanselow, 1985;Williams & Barber, 1990;Williams & Groux, 1993;Williams, Rogers, & Adler, 1990;Williams & Scott, 1989). In addition, File, Zangrossi, Sanders, and Mabbutt (1993) reported that when rats were exposed to the odors of cats intermittently for five daily sessions, they showed a significant increase in blood-plasma levels of corticosterone by the 3rd day.…”

mentioning

confidence: 73%

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

et al. 1998

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The effects of age and predator-induced stress, by exposing rats to a cat, were examined during subsequent testing of spatial working memory. Male rats (3 months and 20 months of age) were trained on a spatial delayed-alternation task using an elevated T maze. After subgroups were given intermittent protected-exposure sessions over a 3-day period to cats or to a control condition, they were tested on the working memory task. The old rats took more trials to reach training criterion. Overall , both stress-exposed groups exhibited a decline in accuracy 24 hr later and recovered completely during the subsequent test sessions. Surprisingly, young stressed rats showed significantly greater decrements in accuracy than old stressed rats. However, exposure to the stressor resulted in decreases in response speed that were comparable for both age groups. These findings are discussed in terms of possible changes in glucocorticoids , plasma corticosterone, and endogenous opioids that are known to be affected by age and stress and have been shown to influence spatial working memory.

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“…For behavioral determination, it was best to perform the defensive withdrawal test in the subjective day of the rats in order to capture the largest number of behaviors possible, but this particular time is also associated with higher basal levels of corticosterone and ACTH, making these neuroendocrine determinations less sensitive. In addition, the relative level of behavioral "control" (withdrawing to the small hide box or avoiding the odor-containing corner, for example) over the situation in the defensive withdrawal paradigm could lead to very different endocrine results when compared to a situation in which odors are relatively inescapable (Dielenberg et al, 2001b;File et al, 1993). For this reason, rats were housed in small mouse polycarbonate cages (28 cm × 18 cm × 14 cm) with their usual food and water supply overnight for morning endocrine determination following 30 min towel placement in the cage without additional handling (see Masini et al, 2005, for additional experimental details).…”

Section: Acute Behavioral Endocrine and Autonomic Responses To Ferrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior work with predators and their odors in rodents indicates that repeated (sometimes single) exposures to these stimuli produce a number of effects ranging from habituation and sensitization, to conditioned fear (Adamec et al, 1998Adamec and Shallow, 1993;Blanchard et al, 2003aBlanchard et al, ,c, 1990aBlanchard et al, ,c, 1998bBlanchard et al, , 2001Endres and Fendt, 2007;Figueiredo et al, 2003;File et al, 1993;McGregor et al, 2002;Takahashi et al, 2005;Wallace and Rosen, 2000;File, 1994, 1992), that have been shown to be sustained and long-lasting in some instances. While repeated exposure to live cat is reported to produce little behavioral habituation in rats (Blanchard et al, 1998b;Figueiredo et al, 2003), their odors, which are thought to provide only a "partial predator stimulus" (Dielenberg and McGregor, 2001), produce variable development of clear behavioral (Blanchard et al, 1990;File et al, 1993;Takahashi et al, 2005;File, 1994, 1992) or neuroendocrine habituation (File et al, 1993).…”

Section: Subacute and Chronic Effects Of Ferret Odor On Neuroendocrinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While repeated exposure to live cat is reported to produce little behavioral habituation in rats (Blanchard et al, 1998b;Figueiredo et al, 2003), their odors, which are thought to provide only a "partial predator stimulus" (Dielenberg and McGregor, 2001), produce variable development of clear behavioral (Blanchard et al, 1990;File et al, 1993;Takahashi et al, 2005;File, 1994, 1992) or neuroendocrine habituation (File et al, 1993). It should be noted that in cases where behavioral and neuroendocrine response habituation to cat odors were observed File et al, 1993), rats often had control over the odor exposures by being allowed to "hide" in a box as part of the experimental apparatus, thus perhaps avoiding the predator odor. Our initial studies with repeated ferret odor exposures suggested limited, if any, behavioral and neuroendocrine response habituation (Masini et al, 2006a).…”

Section: Subacute and Chronic Effects Of Ferret Odor On Neuroendocrinmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acute and chronic effects of ferret odor exposure in Sprague–Dawley rats

Campeau

Nyhuis

Sasse

et al. 2008

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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This manuscript describes several behavioral and functional studies evaluating the capacity of ferret odors to elicit a number of acute and long-term responses in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Acute presentation elicits multiple responses, suggesting that ferret odor, likely from skin gland secretions, provides an anxiogenic-like stimulus in this strain of rats. Compared to cat odor, however, ferret odor did not produce rapid fear conditioning, a result perhaps attributable to methodological factors. Inactivation of the olfactory system and medial nucleus of the amygdala, combined with induction of the immediate-early gene c-fos, suggest the necessity of the accessory olfactory system in mediating the effects of ferret odor. Repeated exposures to ferret odor produce variable habituation of neuroendocrine and behavioral responses, perhaps indicative of the lack of control over the exact individual origin or concentration of ferret odor. Ferret odor induces rapid and long-term body weight regulation, thymic involution, adrenal hyperplasia and facilitation of the neuroendocrine response to additional challenges. It is argued that the use of such odors is exquisitely suited to investigate the brain regions coordinating anxiety-like responses and the long-term changes elicited by such stimuli.

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Dissociation between behavioral and corticosterone responses on repeated exposures to cat odor

Cited by 137 publications

References 12 publications

Predator threat induces behavioral inhibition, pituitary-adrenal activation and changes in amygdala CRF-binding protein gene expression

Predator threat induces behavioral inhibition, pituitary-adrenal activation and changes in amygdala CRF-binding protein gene expression

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

Acute and chronic effects of ferret odor exposure in Sprague–Dawley rats

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