Motivated Lateralized Behaviour in the Rat: Role of the Ventral Hippocampus

Trace element and its probable role in biological systems have attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. Previous work has shown that ZnTe administered in drinking water to pregnant rats during pregnancy, delivery, lactation and offspring maturation up to prepuberal stage is able to modify several parameters of spontaneous behaviours related to cognition in offspring rats. Since Zn and Te have many biological properties, it’s not possible to conclude if behavioural changes are due to Zn, Te or both trace elements activity. In the present work, K2TeO3 and ZnCl2 were used alone in order to evaluate single actions of trace elements. Four experimental groups were formed: Control (water), Zn-treated group, Te-treated groups, and Zn+Te group. At the end of the experiments at 30 days of age offspring of each group were tested individually in a Double-Hole Board Labyrinth to evaluate lateralized exploration. Open field enriched with a rack and hole-board to evaluate motivated exploration; single cage in an intruder-host test to evaluate social interaction, and forced swimming cylinder to evaluate the survival responses. Results showed selective changes in rearing for Te (first Test); blocking of the natural left-biased exploration (second Test) increased time to confront the intruder with decreased time to interact with the intruder (third Test), and decreased time to active swimming (fourth Test).With the exception of duration of the social interaction, Zn has no effect. Results suggest that most of the behavioural changes found with ZnTe in previous studies are due to Te.

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“…This labyrinth evaluates motivated exploration that can be expressed in lateralized form, as described previously [31,22].…”

Section: Double Lateral Hole-board Labyrinth (Dhbl)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential effects of zinc and tellurium on epigenetic changes of coping behaviour in maturing rats

Ratti

Alvarez

2019

Journal of Neurorestoratology

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“…Previous evidence from our laboratory, working with intact rats, showed that lateralized responses depended on the geometrical characteristics of a new environment, i.e., the behavioral response was "non-consistent" [17]. Cubic and cubic rectangular environments elicited the same lateralized response (right-biased exploration of walls), while T-shaped cubic rectangular environments elicited reverse-biased exploration (left-biased exploration) [4,17,18]. These results suggest that the rat brain is able to discriminate between environments with different shapes and geometrical layouts, and this ability relies on the differential activation of neuronal groups in the hemispheres of the brain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Corresponding author: Edgardo O. Alvarez, E-mail: ealvarez@fcm.uncu.edu.ar, oroz.eoa@gmail.com physiological processes [2]. The differential control of behavioral functions by left and right brain structures is a neural property present in many animal species apart from human beings [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], suggesting that this is a functional mechanism that has evolved to enable animals to cope efficiently with environmental changes [3,10,11]. Some researchers have postulated that in addition to local adaptations in the neuronal circuits of the left and right hemispheres, biochemical changes to increase the conduction speed through the transverse fibers connecting the hemispheres have also taken place, permitting the simultaneous delivery of input signals to both hemispheres [3,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some researchers have postulated that in addition to local adaptations in the neuronal circuits of the left and right hemispheres, biochemical changes to increase the conduction speed through the transverse fibers connecting the hemispheres have also taken place, permitting the simultaneous delivery of input signals to both hemispheres [3,11]. Regarding laterality, it is known that specific neural circuits in the brain are involved [4,12,13], and it has been assumed that lateralized behaviors in subjects should remain constant in different environmental conditions. This behavioral characteristic is known as the "consistency" of a lateralized response, and can be compared to the spontaneous reflex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the identification of the neuronal circuits involved, some evidence points to the involvement of the hippocampus and the basolateral amygdala [4,18]. Both these structures of the limbic system are plastic neuronal regions, where the processing of external stimuli depends on environmental changes [4,18]. It would not be surprising to find that these brain structures interact dynamically with changes in the environment, triggering appropriate responses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lateralized spontaneous exploratory behavior in maturing rats induced by new geometrically differentiated environments after administration with trace elements

Ratti¹,

Sacchi²,

Alvarez³

2019

Journal of Neurorestoratology

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Functional laterality is known as an intrinsic property of the brain. Since several studies have shown the presence of laterality in many species other than humans, it has been suggested that this is an adaptive mechanism to aid survival. Previous studies have shown that lateralized behavior observed during exposure to different environmental stimuli is not constant in normal animals, depending on the geometrical form of the exploratory field. In these exploratory fields, animals showed right- or left-biased exploratory behavior, according to the nature of the geometrical properties of the environment. Previously, it was found that tellurium (Te) was able to block spontaneous left-biased exploration in one defined geometrical environment. In the present work, the influence of Te and selenium (Se) in animals exposed to novel geometrically different environments were studied. Three geometrically different testing fields (square, rectangle, and T-shaped) were presented to Se- and Te-treated groups of rats. The results show that in the square field, only the Se treatment was able to block spontaneous right-biased exploratory responses; in the rectangular field, both Se and Te treatments blocked right-biased exploratory responses, and in the T-shaped field, only Te was able to block spontaneous left-biased exploratory responses. Data suggest that trace elements modify lateralized behavioral responses independently of the form of the novel exploratory field, suggesting the presence of a specific action in the brain.

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Tellurium epigenetic transgenerational effects on behavioral expression of coping behavior in rats

Ratti

Alvarez

2019

Progress in Brain Research

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Motivated Lateralized Behaviour in the Rat: Role of the Ventral Hippocampus

Cited by 6 publications

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Differential effects of zinc and tellurium on epigenetic changes of coping behaviour in maturing rats

Differential effects of zinc and tellurium on epigenetic changes of coping behaviour in maturing rats

Lateralized spontaneous exploratory behavior in maturing rats induced by new geometrically differentiated environments after administration with trace elements

Tellurium epigenetic transgenerational effects on behavioral expression of coping behavior in rats

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