Fox Urine as an Aversive Stimulus: Modification of a Passive Avoidance Task

Farmer-Dougan, Valeri; Chandrashekar, Seshanand P.; Stutzman, David; Bradham, Kari; Dougan, James D.

doi:10.3200/genp.132.3.313-320

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(6 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As predicted, Prkar1a +/- mice failed to exhibit behavioral changes (exploratory or defensive) to distinguish between predator versus control odor exposure, which was an effect of the genotype. The behavioral response of the WT mice confirmed prior findings of laboratory and field studies that exposure to predator odor would reduce exploratory and non-defensive behaviors (Blanchard and Blanchard, 1989; Farmer-Dougan et al, 2005; Dielenberg et al, 2001a), thus providing an important control for this study Therefore, the behavioral response of Prkar1a +/- mice is consistent with the “prediction error” hypothesis of anxiety disorders, specifically a deficit in the ability to discriminate between an ambiguous versus a predator threat.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Threat bias in mice with inactivating mutations of Prkar1a

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anxiety disorders are associated with abnormalities in the neural processing of threat-related stimuli. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying threat bias in anxiety are not well understood. We recently reported that a Prkar1a heterozygote (Prkar1a+/-) mouse with haploinsufficiency for the main regulatory subunit (R1α) of protein kinase A (PKA) exhibits an anxiety-like phenotype associated with increased cAMP signaling in the amygdala. Prkar1a+/- mice provide a novel model to test the direct effect of altered PKA expression and subsequent anxiety-like behavioral phenotype on the response to threat. We hypothesized that Prkar1a+/-mice would exhibit a bias in threat detection since increased amygdala activity during emotional stimuli is associated with a maladaptive response. We measured behavior and PKA activity in brain areas after exposure to predator or control odor exposure in male Prkar1a+/- and wild-type (WT) littermates. Indeed, there were significant differences in the behavioral response to threat detection; WT mice showed the expected response of decrease in exploratory behavior during predator vs. control odor exposure, while Prkar1a+/- mice did not alter their behavior between conditions. Basal and total PKA activity was independently associated with genotype, with an interaction between genotype and threat condition. Prkar1a+/- mice had higher PKA activity in amygdala and ventromedial hypothalamus in response to predator odor. In contrast, WT mice had higher PKA activity in amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex after exposure to control odor. Dysregulated PKA activity in the amygdala- prefrontal cortex circuitry in Prkar1a+/- mice is associated with behavioral phenotype of anxiety and a bias for threat. This is likely related to a failure to inhibit the amydgala response, which is an effect of the genotype. These results suggest that the alteration in PKA signaling in Prkar1a+/- mice is not ubiquitous in the brain; tissue-specific effects of the cAMP/PKA pathway are related to threat detection and fear sensitization.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Threat bias in mice with inactivating mutations of Prkar1a

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, TMT induced a significant increase in immobility, one of the most prominent behavioural effects of TMT 24 , 40 . Surprisingly, exposure to fox urine did not induce overt defensive behaviour in the present experiment, although this has been shown in previous studies of our group 20 , 41 – 44 and of others 45 – 47 . A potential reason for this may be that the experimental protocol of the present study differed from the one used before.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

Predator odour but not TMT induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats that lead to defensive behaviours in conspecifics upon replay

Fendt

Brosch

Wernecke

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predator odours induce defensive behaviour in prey animals such as rats. The present study investigated (1) whether laboratory rats exposed to predator odours emit 22-kHz calls which may have an alarming function and (2) whether playback of such calls induces behavioural changes in conspecifics. For this, Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to samples of fox and lion urine, as well as to the synthetic predator odour TMT. Despite that all odours induced defensive behaviour, only predator urine samples but not TMT were able to induce 22-kHz calls in a few rats. In a second experiment, naive rats were exposed to playback presentations of the 22-kHz calls recorded in the first experiment, as well as to phase-scrambled and frequency-shifted control stimuli. Low intensity playback presentations led to a reduction of locomotor activity during the presentation of the 22-kHz calls but not of the control stimuli. This effect was less specific under high intensity conditions. Taken together the present findings show that natural predator odours are able to induce emission of 22-kHz calls in rats and support the hypothesis that these calls have an alarming function.

show abstract

“…Similar effects have been shown in a number of studies with other prey species: beavers, black-tailed deer, snowshoe hares, deer mice, guinea pigs, house mice, gray squirrels, meadow voles, and mountain voles during exposure to coyote, wolf, fox, and bobcat urine (Sullivan et al, 1985a(Sullivan et al, ,b, 1988Epple et al, 1993;Nolte et al, 1994;Swihart et al, 1999;Rosell, 2001), and, most relevantly, in rats during exposure to fox urine (Burwash et al, 1998;Campbell et al, 2003;Farmer-Dougan et al, 2005). The results of all these studies were confirmed here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Exposure to Urine of Canids and Felids, but not of Herbivores, Induces Defensive Behavior in Laboratory Rats

Fendt

2006

J Chem Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predator odors induce defensive behavior in many prey species. For various reasons, studies carried out up to now have been unable to establish whether predator odor recognition is innate or not. Mostly, only particular odors or wild-living (i.e., experienced) test animals have been used in these studies, restricting the conclusiveness of the observations. In the present study, the behavioral effects of exposure to different predator odors on predator odor-naive laboratory male rats were compared with the effects of different nonpredator odors and of a no-odor control stimulus. Results show that exposure to urine of canids and felids, but not of herbivores or conspecifics, induce defensive behaviors. Taken together, the study provides support for the hypothesis that there is an innate recognition of predator odors in laboratory rats.

show abstract

Fox Urine as an Aversive Stimulus: Modification of a Passive Avoidance Task

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Threat bias in mice with inactivating mutations of Prkar1a

Threat bias in mice with inactivating mutations of Prkar1a

Predator odour but not TMT induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats that lead to defensive behaviours in conspecifics upon replay

Exposure to Urine of Canids and Felids, but not of Herbivores, Induces Defensive Behavior in Laboratory Rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About