Emotional reactivity and cognitive performance in aversively motivated tasks: a comparison between four rat strains

Abstract

BackgroundCognitive function might be affected by the subjects' emotional reactivity. We assessed whether behavior in different tests of emotional reactivity is correlated with performance in aversively motivated learning tasks, using four strains of rats generally considered to have a different emotional reactivity.MethodsThe performance of male Brown Norway, Lewis, Fischer 344, and Wistar Kyoto rats in open field (OF), elevated plus-maze (EPM), and circular light-dark preference box (cLDB) tasks, which are believed to provide measures of emotional reactivity, was evaluated. Spatial working and reference memory were assessed in two aversively motivated learning and memory tasks: the standard and the "repeated acquisition" versions of the Morris water maze escape task, respectively. All rats were also tested in a passive avoidance task. At the end of the study, levels of serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and 5-HT turnover in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were determined.ResultsStrain differences showed a complex pattern across behavioral tests and serotonergic measures. Fischer 344 rats had the poorest performance in both versions of the Morris water escape task, whereas Brown Norway rats performed these tasks very well but the passive avoidance task poorly. Neither correlation analysis nor principal component analysis provided convincing support for the notion that OF, EPM, and cLDB tasks measure the same underlying trait.ConclusionsOur findings do not support the hypothesis that the level of emotional reactivity modulates cognitive performance in aversively motivated tasks. Concepts such as "emotional reactivity" and "learning and memory" cannot adequately be tapped with only one behavioral test. Our results emphasize the need for multiple testing.

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Predicting Explorative Behavior by Level of Emotional Reactivity in Bobwhite Quail Neonates (Colinus virginianus)

“…In contrast, the introduction of the novel tone auditory stimulus was hypothesized to increase level of emotional reactivity, thereby decreasing explorative behavior in the same maze task. This hypothesis was in line with findings that showed that aversively motivated tasks increased emotional reactivity while inhibiting exploration in some rat strains (van der Staay, et al, 2009). …”

“…The most common example of this measurement of emotional reactivity is the amount of feces left behind by the subject after testing (van der Staay et al, 2009). Imada (1970) found that Maudsley Reactive rats defecated significantly more than nonreactive strains of rats during open-field testing for emotionality and concluded that defecation could serve as an index of fear to a certain extent.…”

“…Aversively motivated tasks were shown to increase emotional reactivity and inhibit performance in a Morris water maze in some rat strains, although it has not been determined if this increase in emotional reactivity has any effect on cognitive performance or if it is generalizable to other animal species or testing conditions (Mowrer, 1939;van der Staay et al 2009). There is much work that should be done on this topic to extrapolate how aversive stimuli affect subjects during testing.…”

Social isolation is associated with reduced neurogenesis, impaired spatial working memory performance, and altered anxiety levels in male rats

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