Investigation of sex differences in behavioural, endocrine, and neural measures following repeated psychological stressor exposure

Mashoodh, Rahia; Wright, Lisa; Hébert, Kimberly E.; Perrot-Sinal, Tara S.

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2007.11.018

Cited by 18 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Consequently, success rates and number of attempts began to diverge. These data are in contrast to reports of female Wistar rats showing greater locomotor effects and physiological susceptibility to chronic mild stress, such as restraint [32,33]. This discrepancy might derive from strain-and colony-dependent behavioural and physiological differences.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Sex differences in skilled movement in response to restraint stress and recovery from stress

Jadavji

Metz

2008

Behavioural Brain Research

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Sex differences exist in skilled movement, and skilled motor performance is also influenced by stress. As shown for cognitive function, the effects of stress are usually characterized by considerable sexual dimorphism. The purpose of this study was to investigate sex differences in skilled motor function in response to stress. Male and female Long-Evans rats were trained and tested in skilled reaching and skilled walking tasks. Both groups of animals were then exposed to daily restraint stress for 15 days. Recovery from daily stress was assessed by comparing reaching performance at 10 min versus 60 min after restraint stress, and recovery from chronic stress was tested for 21 days after cessation of stress. Animals were tested daily in skilled reaching for the entire period. Observations showed that females performed significantly better than males during the stress period in terms of reaching success and number of attempts needed to grasp a food pellet. No difference between testing at 10 or 60 min after daily stress was found. Analysis of movement patterns and recovery from stress indicated that males and females use different strategies to overcome stress-induced motor disturbance. While male rats preferred to use original movement patterns, females tended to modify these patterns in order to increase reaching success. Modification of movement patterns in female rats was accompanied by a faster recovery in success rate after the cessation of stress. These results indicate sex differences in skilled reaching in response to stress, and in the recovery period after stress.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally believed that females react more robustly to stress, both behaviourally and physiologically [13,33,54]. One reason for this sex difference is that HPA axis activity occurs as a function of ovarian cycle stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in skilled movement in response to restraint stress and recovery from stress

Jadavji

Metz

2008

Behavioural Brain Research

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“…PO exposure in F 0 males induced an avoidance phenotype similar to those found in past studies, in which we have noted that a similar repeated exposure paradigm results in increased baseline glucocorticoids and avoidance behavior (Mashoodh et al, 2008; Wright et al, 2008). In the present study, repeated exposure to PO resulted in an expected decreased preference of females for PO males relative to CO males.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Repeated exposure of prey to predators or their cues activates the HPA axis and initiates defensive behaviors (Mashoodh et al, 2008) that are long lasting, in part, through programming gene expression profiles supporting the neural circuitry of endocrine and behavioral responses to stress (Morrow et al, 2002; Wright et al, 2008, 2012; Roth et al, 2011). PO exposure in F 0 males induced an avoidance phenotype similar to those found in past studies, in which we have noted that a similar repeated exposure paradigm results in increased baseline glucocorticoids and avoidance behavior (Mashoodh et al, 2008; Wright et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Paternal Predation Risk and Rearing Environment on Maternal Investment and Development of Defensive Responses in the Offspring

Korgan

O’Leary

Bauer

et al. 2016

eNeuro

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Detecting past experiences with predators of a potential mate informs a female about prevailing ecological threats, in addition to stress-induced phenotypes that may be disseminated to offspring. We examined whether prior exposure of a male rat to a predator (cat) odor influences the attraction of a female toward a male, subsequent mother–infant interactions and the development of defensive (emotional) responses in the offspring. Females displayed less interest in males that had experienced predator odor. Mothers that reared young in larger, seminaturalistic housing provided more licking and grooming and active arched back-nursing behavior toward their offspring compared with dams housed in standard housing, although some effects interacted with paternal experience. Paternal predation risk and maternal rearing environment revealed sex-dependent differences in offspring wean weight, juvenile social interactions, and anxiety-like behavior in adolescence. Additionally, paternal predator experience and maternal housing independently affected variations in crf gene promoter acetylation and crf gene expression in response to an acute stressor in offspring. Our results show for the first time in mammals that variation among males in their predator encounters may contribute to stable behavioral variation among females in preference for mates and maternal care, even when the females are not directly exposed to predator threat. Furthermore, when offspring were exposed to the same threat experienced by the father, hypothalamic crf gene regulation was influenced by paternal olfactory experience and early housing. These results, together with our previous findings, suggest that paternal stress exposure and maternal rearing conditions can influence maternal behavior and the development of defensive responses in offspring.

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“…Habituation is a primitive form of non-associative learning and is an important means of allowing rodents to resume foraging and other appetitive behaviors following an encounter with a predator or predator-related cues [25]. However, our findings conflict with a previous report that found that defensive behavioral responses did not habituate, even after repeated presentation of a piece of cat collar over three weeks [26]. It is possible that odors associated with cat skin or fur are more potent than cat feces because they represent a more direct danger [3] so that the voles exposed to cat feces in our experiment habituated more readily than those exposed to a piece of cat collar.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 83%

Defensive responses of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) to chronic predatory stress

Hegab

Shang

et al. 2014

Physiology & Behavior

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Predator odors are non-intrusive natural stressors of high ethological relevance. The objective of this study was to investigate the processing of a chronic, life-threatening stimulus during repeated prolonged presentation to Brandt's voles. One hundred and twenty voles were tested by repeated presentation of cat feces in a defensive withdrawal apparatus. Voles exposed to feces for short periods showed more avoidance, more concealment in the hide box, less contact time with the odor source, more freezing behavior, less grooming, more jumping, and more vigilant rearing than did non-exposed voles, and those exposed for longer periods. Serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone increased significantly when animals were repeatedly exposed to cat feces for short periods. The behavioral and endocrine responses habituated during prolonged presentation of cat feces. ΔfosB mRNA expression level was highest in voles exposed to cat feces for 6 and 12 consecutive days, and subsequently declined in animals exposed to cat feces for 24 days. We therefore conclude that the behavioral and endocrine responses to repeated exposure to cat feces undergo a process of habituation, while ΔfosB changes in the medial hypothalamic region exhibit sensitization. We propose that habituation and sensitization are complementary rather than contradictory processes that occur in the same individual upon repeated presentation of the same stressor.

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Investigation of sex differences in behavioural, endocrine, and neural measures following repeated psychological stressor exposure

Cited by 18 publications

References 56 publications

Sex differences in skilled movement in response to restraint stress and recovery from stress

Sex differences in skilled movement in response to restraint stress and recovery from stress

Effects of Paternal Predation Risk and Rearing Environment on Maternal Investment and Development of Defensive Responses in the Offspring

Defensive responses of Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii) to chronic predatory stress

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