Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes

The present study evaluated the long-lasting effects of neonatal handling (H; administered during the first 21 days of life) on unlearned and learned anxiety-related responses in inbred Roman High- (RHA-I) and Low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats. To this aim, untreated and neonatally-handled RHA-I and RLA-I...

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Main Authors: Cristobal eRío-Alamos, Ignasi Oliveras Puigdellivol, Antoni eCañete, Gloria eBlazquez, Esther eMartinez-Membrives, Adolf eTobeña, Alberto eFernandez-Teruel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00174/full
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author Cristobal eRío-Alamos
Ignasi Oliveras Puigdellivol
Antoni eCañete
Gloria eBlazquez
Esther eMartinez-Membrives
Adolf eTobeña
Alberto eFernandez-Teruel
author_facet Cristobal eRío-Alamos
Ignasi Oliveras Puigdellivol
Antoni eCañete
Gloria eBlazquez
Esther eMartinez-Membrives
Adolf eTobeña
Alberto eFernandez-Teruel
author_sort Cristobal eRío-Alamos
collection DOAJ
description The present study evaluated the long-lasting effects of neonatal handling (H; administered during the first 21 days of life) on unlearned and learned anxiety-related responses in inbred Roman High- (RHA-I) and Low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats. To this aim, untreated and neonatally-handled RHA-I and RLA-I rats of both sexes were tested in the following tests/tasks in baseline acoustic startle (BAS) test, a context-conditioned fear (CCF) test and the acquisition of two-way active –shuttle box- avoidance (SHAV). RLA-I rats showed higher unconditioned (NOE, ZM, BAS) and conditioned (CCF, SHAV) anxiety. H treatment increased exploration of the novel object in the NOE test as well as exploration of the open sections of the ZM test in both rat strains and sexes, although the effects were relatively more marked in the (high anxious) RLA-I strain and in females. Neonatal handling did not affect BAS, but reduced context-conditioned fear in both strains and sexes, and improved shuttle box avoidance acquisition especially in RLA-I (and particularly in females) and in female RHA-I rats. These are completely novel findings, and may suggest that H-induced changes in hippocampal function, which is enhanced in RLA-Is vs RHA-I rats, could be a candidate mechanism underlying the observed long-lasting benefits of neonatal handling on known hippocampal-dependent responses/tasks.
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spelling doaj.art-33e7b5c642ca4101b252f8fa3aeaba842022-12-22T01:27:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532015-07-01910.3389/fnbeh.2015.00174145718Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexesCristobal eRío-Alamos0Ignasi Oliveras Puigdellivol1Antoni eCañete2Gloria eBlazquez3Esther eMartinez-Membrives4Adolf eTobeña5Alberto eFernandez-Teruel6Universidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaUniversidad Autonoma de BarcelonaThe present study evaluated the long-lasting effects of neonatal handling (H; administered during the first 21 days of life) on unlearned and learned anxiety-related responses in inbred Roman High- (RHA-I) and Low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats. To this aim, untreated and neonatally-handled RHA-I and RLA-I rats of both sexes were tested in the following tests/tasks in baseline acoustic startle (BAS) test, a context-conditioned fear (CCF) test and the acquisition of two-way active –shuttle box- avoidance (SHAV). RLA-I rats showed higher unconditioned (NOE, ZM, BAS) and conditioned (CCF, SHAV) anxiety. H treatment increased exploration of the novel object in the NOE test as well as exploration of the open sections of the ZM test in both rat strains and sexes, although the effects were relatively more marked in the (high anxious) RLA-I strain and in females. Neonatal handling did not affect BAS, but reduced context-conditioned fear in both strains and sexes, and improved shuttle box avoidance acquisition especially in RLA-I (and particularly in females) and in female RHA-I rats. These are completely novel findings, and may suggest that H-induced changes in hippocampal function, which is enhanced in RLA-Is vs RHA-I rats, could be a candidate mechanism underlying the observed long-lasting benefits of neonatal handling on known hippocampal-dependent responses/tasks.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00174/fullAnxietyneonatal handlinginbred Roman ratstwo-way avoidance acquisitioncoping style.
spellingShingle Cristobal eRío-Alamos
Ignasi Oliveras Puigdellivol
Antoni eCañete
Gloria eBlazquez
Esther eMartinez-Membrives
Adolf eTobeña
Alberto eFernandez-Teruel
Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Anxiety
neonatal handling
inbred Roman rats
two-way avoidance acquisition
coping style.
title Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
title_full Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
title_fullStr Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
title_full_unstemmed Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
title_short Neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety, conditioned fear, and improves two-way avoidance acquisition: a study with the inbred Roman high (RHA-I)- and low-avoidance (RLA-I) rats of both sexes
title_sort neonatal handling decreases unconditioned anxiety conditioned fear and improves two way avoidance acquisition a study with the inbred roman high rha i and low avoidance rla i rats of both sexes
topic Anxiety
neonatal handling
inbred Roman rats
two-way avoidance acquisition
coping style.
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00174/full
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