Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety.
The costs of violence and aggression in our society have stimulated the scientific search for the predictors and causes of aggression. The majority of studies have focused on males, which are considered to be more aggressive than females in most species. However, rates of offensive behavior in girls...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3948875?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811205554385715200 |
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| author | Trynke R de Jong Daniela I Beiderbeck Inga D Neumann |
| author_facet | Trynke R de Jong Daniela I Beiderbeck Inga D Neumann |
| author_sort | Trynke R de Jong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The costs of violence and aggression in our society have stimulated the scientific search for the predictors and causes of aggression. The majority of studies have focused on males, which are considered to be more aggressive than females in most species. However, rates of offensive behavior in girls and young women are considerable and are currently rising in Western society. The extrapolation of scientific results from males to young, non-maternal females is a priori limited, based on the profound sex differences in brain areas and functioning of neurotransmitters involved in aggression. Therefore, we established a paradigm to assess aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats, i.e. the female intruder test (FIT). We found that approximately 40% of un-manipulated adult (10-11 weeks old) female Wistar rats attack an intruder female during the FIT, independent of their estrous phase or that of their intruder. In addition, adolescent (7-8 weeks old) female rats selected for high anxiety behavior (HABs) displayed significantly more aggression than non-selected (NAB) or low-anxiety (LAB) rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of oxytocin (OXT, 0.1 µg/5 µl) inhibited aggressive behavior in adult NAB and LAB, but not HAB females. Adolescent NAB rats that had been aggressive towards their intruder showed increased pERK immunoreactivity (IR) in the hypothalamic attack area and reduced pERK-IR in OXT neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus compared to non-aggressive NAB rats. Taken together, aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats is partly dependent on trait anxiety, and appears to be under considerable OXT control. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:34:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-62423c75b2624e56bd0f1641a865cab3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:34:30Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-62423c75b2624e56bd0f1641a865cab32022-12-22T03:49:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0193e9170110.1371/journal.pone.0091701Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety.Trynke R de JongDaniela I BeiderbeckInga D NeumannThe costs of violence and aggression in our society have stimulated the scientific search for the predictors and causes of aggression. The majority of studies have focused on males, which are considered to be more aggressive than females in most species. However, rates of offensive behavior in girls and young women are considerable and are currently rising in Western society. The extrapolation of scientific results from males to young, non-maternal females is a priori limited, based on the profound sex differences in brain areas and functioning of neurotransmitters involved in aggression. Therefore, we established a paradigm to assess aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats, i.e. the female intruder test (FIT). We found that approximately 40% of un-manipulated adult (10-11 weeks old) female Wistar rats attack an intruder female during the FIT, independent of their estrous phase or that of their intruder. In addition, adolescent (7-8 weeks old) female rats selected for high anxiety behavior (HABs) displayed significantly more aggression than non-selected (NAB) or low-anxiety (LAB) rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of oxytocin (OXT, 0.1 µg/5 µl) inhibited aggressive behavior in adult NAB and LAB, but not HAB females. Adolescent NAB rats that had been aggressive towards their intruder showed increased pERK immunoreactivity (IR) in the hypothalamic attack area and reduced pERK-IR in OXT neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus compared to non-aggressive NAB rats. Taken together, aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats is partly dependent on trait anxiety, and appears to be under considerable OXT control.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3948875?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Trynke R de Jong Daniela I Beiderbeck Inga D Neumann Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. PLoS ONE |
| title | Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. |
| title_full | Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. |
| title_fullStr | Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. |
| title_short | Measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test (FIT): effects of oxytocin, estrous cycle, and anxiety. |
| title_sort | measuring virgin female aggression in the female intruder test fit effects of oxytocin estrous cycle and anxiety |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3948875?pdf=render |
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