Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats
Traditional rodent models of Pavlovian fear conditioning assess the strength of learning by quantifying freezing responses. However, sole reliance on this measure includes the de facto assumption that any locomotor activity reflects an absence of fear. Consequently, alternative expressions of associ...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2015-11-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/11352 |
| _version_ | 1818018617025888256 |
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| author | Tina M Gruene Katelyn Flick Alexis Stefano Stephen D Shea Rebecca M Shansky |
| author_facet | Tina M Gruene Katelyn Flick Alexis Stefano Stephen D Shea Rebecca M Shansky |
| author_sort | Tina M Gruene |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Traditional rodent models of Pavlovian fear conditioning assess the strength of learning by quantifying freezing responses. However, sole reliance on this measure includes the de facto assumption that any locomotor activity reflects an absence of fear. Consequently, alternative expressions of associative learning are rarely considered. Here we identify a novel, active fear response (‘darting’) that occurs primarily in female rats. In females, darting exhibits the characteristics of a learned fear behavior, appearing during the CS period as conditioning proceeds and disappearing from the CS period during extinction. This finding motivates a reinterpretation of rodent fear conditioning studies, particularly in females, and it suggests that conditioned fear behavior is more diverse than previously appreciated. Moreover, rats that darted during initial fear conditioning exhibited lower freezing during the second day of extinction testing, suggesting that females employ distinct and adaptive fear response strategies that improve long-term outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:42:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22d29417793942a89ae6181ed42e2ccb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:42:02Z |
| publishDate | 2015-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-22d29417793942a89ae6181ed42e2ccb2022-12-22T02:05:27ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2015-11-01410.7554/eLife.11352Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in ratsTina M Gruene0Katelyn Flick1Alexis Stefano2Stephen D Shea3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6927-0189Rebecca M Shansky4Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, United StatesCold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, United StatesTraditional rodent models of Pavlovian fear conditioning assess the strength of learning by quantifying freezing responses. However, sole reliance on this measure includes the de facto assumption that any locomotor activity reflects an absence of fear. Consequently, alternative expressions of associative learning are rarely considered. Here we identify a novel, active fear response (‘darting’) that occurs primarily in female rats. In females, darting exhibits the characteristics of a learned fear behavior, appearing during the CS period as conditioning proceeds and disappearing from the CS period during extinction. This finding motivates a reinterpretation of rodent fear conditioning studies, particularly in females, and it suggests that conditioned fear behavior is more diverse than previously appreciated. Moreover, rats that darted during initial fear conditioning exhibited lower freezing during the second day of extinction testing, suggesting that females employ distinct and adaptive fear response strategies that improve long-term outcomes.https://elifesciences.org/articles/11352fear conditioningsex differencesactive responses |
| spellingShingle | Tina M Gruene Katelyn Flick Alexis Stefano Stephen D Shea Rebecca M Shansky Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats eLife fear conditioning sex differences active responses |
| title | Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| title_full | Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| title_fullStr | Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| title_short | Sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| title_sort | sexually divergent expression of active and passive conditioned fear responses in rats |
| topic | fear conditioning sex differences active responses |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/11352 |
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