| Use of the light-dark box to compare the anxiety-related behavior of virgin and postpartum female rats. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21851834 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Postpartum female rodents are less anxious than diestrous virgins and this difference contributes to dams' ability to adequately care for pups and defend the nest. Low postpartum anxiety has been observed in many behavioral paradigms but the results of previous studies using the light-dark box have been inconsistent. We here reexamined the usefulness of the light-dark box to assess differences between postpartum and diestrous virgin female rats in anxiety-related behavior. We found a significant effect of reproductive state, such that dams spent more time in the light chamber than did diestrous virgins. This difference required recent physical contact with pups because a four-hour separation from pups reduced dams' time spent in the light chamber by half, similar to what we previously found for litter-separated dams tested in an elevated plus maze. Lastly, we examined if dams' low-anxiety behavior in the light-dark box depends on high GABA(A) receptor activity by inhibiting the receptor at different binding sites using (+)-Bicuculline to target the GABA site, FG-7142 to target the benzodiazepine site, and pentylenetetrazol to target the picrotoxin site. Only pentylenetetrazol was consistently anxiogenic in dams, while having little effect in diestrous virgins. Thus, the light-dark box can be a useful paradigm to study differences between postpartum and diestrous virgin female rats in their anxiety-related behaviors, and this difference is influenced by dams' recent contact with pups and GABA(A) receptor neurotransmission particularly affected by activity at the picrotoxin site. |
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Authors:
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Stephanie M Miller; Christopher C Piasecki; Joseph S Lonstein |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-8-7 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior Volume: - ISSN: 1873-5177 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Aug |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-8-19 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0367050 Medline TA: Pharmacol Biochem Behav Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
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Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, 108 Giltner Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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