Acute Exposure of Anabolic Steroids Affects Emotional Memory Decreasing Both Inhibitory Avoidance Learning and Anxiety in Female Adolescent Rats

Abstract

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) can affect brain regions associated with cognitive processes through steroid sensitive regions in the amygdala and hippocampus. We aim to assess the effect of acute exposure to AAS in adolescent female rats (PN‐40) on emotional memory using the Inhibitory Avoidance Task (IAT). On day 1 (D‐1), animals were placed into the illuminated side of the chamber and the latency to enter to the dark side of the chamber was recorded. On day 2 (D‐2), rats were injected with a high dose of 17α‐methyltestosterone (7.5 mg/kg) during the diestrus phase of the estrus cycle. They received an electric foot shock (0.3mA, 3 sec) in the dark side of the chamber. On day 3 (D‐3), each animal was placed into the illuminated side of the chamber and the latency to enter the dark compartment was recorded. In addition, gene a tendency of AAS to decrease the latency to move to the dark side of the chamber on D‐3. Similarly, AAS elicited a tendency to spend more time in the open arms of the EPM. Ou ralized anxiety was determined using the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM). Our results suggest that acute exposure to AAS in adolescent female rats affects emotional memory decreasing inhibitory avoidance learning and decreasing generalized anxiety.