Implication of the estrous cycle on conditioned avoidance behavior in the rat☆

Sfikakis, Anastasia; Spyraki, Christina; Sitaras, Nikolaos M.; Varonos, D.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(78)90105-1

Cited by 65 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the present findings dissociate the role of testosterone in learned helplessness behavior that appears as a consequence of exposure to repeated uncontrollable stress, from its role in escape/avoidance behavior. Similarly, estrogen and progesterone can influence conditioned avoidance behavior in females (Diaz-Veliz et al, 1989;Sfikakis et al, 1978), but apparently not the expression of helplessness after exposure to uncontrollable stress. With respect to the cycle, Jenkins et al (2001) reported that females in diestrus 2 were more helpless than females in estrus.…”

Section: Sex Differences In Helplessnessmentioning

confidence: 97%

Females do not Express Learned Helplessness like Males do

Dalla

Edgecomb

Whetstone

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

151

101

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Women are more likely than men to suffer from stress-related mental disorders, such as depression. In the present experiments, we identified sex differences in one of the most common animal models of depression, that of learned helplessness. Male and female rats were trained to escape a mild footshock each day for 7 days (controllable stress). Each rat was yoked to another rat that could not escape (uncontrollable stress), but was exposed to the same amount of shock. One day later, all stressed rats and unstressed controls were tested on a more difficult escape task in a different context. Most males exposed to uncontrollable stress did not learn to escape and were therefore helpless. In contrast, most females did learn to escape on the more difficult escape task, irrespective of whether they had been exposed to controllable or uncontrollable stress. The sex differences in helplessness behavior were not dependent on the presence of sex hormones in adulthood, because neither ovariectomy of females nor castration of males abolished them. The absence of helplessness in females was neither dependent on organizational effects of testosterone during the day of birth, because masculinized females did not express helplessness as adults. Thus, sex differences in helplessness behavior are independent of gonadal hormones in adulthood and testosterone exposure during perinatal development. Learned helplessness may not constitute a valid model for depressive behavior in women, at least as reflected by the response of female rats to operant conditioning procedures after stressful experience.

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Section: Sex Differences In Helplessnessmentioning

confidence: 97%

Females do not Express Learned Helplessness like Males do

Dalla

Edgecomb

Whetstone

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

151

101

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“…For example, in a delayed nonmatchingto-sample radial-arm maze task that utilizes a food reward, rats performed more slowly on proestrus days than on any other estrous cycle day, although there are no differences in errors across the estrous cycle (Stackman, Blasberg, Langan, & Clark, 1997). Rats in proestrus show less spatial-contextual conditioning than male or estrous rats (Markus & Zecevic, 1997;Sfikakis, Spyraki, Sitaras, & Varonos, 1978). In an aversively motivated spatial memory task in the water maze, minor decrements (Frye, 1995;Galea, Kavaliers, Ossenkopp, & Hampson, 1995;Warren & Juraska, 1997) or no differences (Berry, McMahan, & Gallagher, 1997;Frye, 1995;Warren & Juraska, 1997) have been found during proestrus compared with other phases of the cycle.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Posttraining androgens' enhancement of cognitive performance is temporally distinct from androgens' increases in affective behavior

Frye

Lacey

2001

Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…This 4-day cycle includes 4 phases, defined by vaginal smears: 1) Diestrus-2 (DE-2), 2) Proestrus (PE), 3) Estrus (E) and 4) Diestrus-1 (DE-1), also referred to as metestrus. [4][5][6][7] Hormonal determinations (estradiol, progesterone, and LH) throughout these 4 phases 5 has shown profound differences between the two consecutive phases DE-2 and PE, the peak levels of these three hormones being found in PE. Details of the hormonal milieu of the various phases of the 4-day estrous cycle in the rat can be found in the study of Butcher et al 5 Considering that a study in cycling rats requires vaginal smear screening (VSS), we should mention that in one of our studies in cycling rats we found that the procedure of VSS represented a mild stress shown by a rise in ACTH about 10 min following VSS.…”

Section: Procedures For Vaginal Smear Screening (Vss)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[6][7][8][9]14 At autopsy, the phase of the estrous cycle was also assessed by taking the weight of the uterus.…”

Section: Assessment Of the Phases Of The Estrous Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Uterine weight measured at autopsy at 0900 to 1100 h in the present study was found higher in PE compared to DE-2 in the control rats in agreement with our previous data. 6,9 The aforementioned phase-related differentiation between DE-2 and PE with regard to both CAG and IAG response could be attributed in part to a delayed onset and prolonged duration "genomic" effect of estradiol. 20 Notably, elevated corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA in the afternoon of PE in the parvocellular paraventricular nuclei (PVN) in the female rat has been reported.…”

Section: Figure 3 Hypothalamic Dopaminergic Status In Diestrus-2 (Dementioning

confidence: 99%

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The impact of the hormonal milieu and stress-associated hypothalamic dopaminergic activation on the rapid compensatory adrenal growth in cycling female rats

Sfikakis¹,

Pitychoutis²,

Αντωνίου³

et al. 2008

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OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the impact of emotional and surgical stress applied in two hormonally different estrous-cycle phases as well as the hypothalamic dopaminergic involvement on the rapid compensatory adrenal growth (CAG) and the individual adrenal growth (IAG) in rats. DESIGN: After surgery for left and sham adrenalectomy (Adx) carried out on either diestrus-2 (DE-2) or proestrus (PE), CAG and IAG were evaluated in PE or estrus (E), respectively. Hypothalamic dopaminergic activity was also assessed by measuring dopamine (DA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) levels in DE-2, PE and E in controls and in PE and E in sham and left adrenalectomized rats. All groups experienced similar chronic emotional stress assessed by the emotional reactivity score recorded during vaginal screening. RESULTS: In controls, DOPAC levels in DE-2 were higher than in PE and E. In PE, following surgery in DE-2, DOPAC levels and DOPAC/DA ratio were increased compared to PE controls; CAG was not significant, while negative correlations of IAG and CAG with DOPAC/DA ratio were observed. In E, CAG and IAG were significant, while dopaminergic activity was not increased compared to E controls. CONCLUSIONS: The significant CAG and IAG following left Adx in PE but not in DE-2 suggest a pronounced positive impact of the hormonal milieu on this process. The profound attenuation of CAG and IAG in PE suggests a negative effect of stress-associated dopaminergic activation.

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Implication of the estrous cycle on conditioned avoidance behavior in the rat☆

Cited by 65 publications

References 19 publications

Females do not Express Learned Helplessness like Males do

Females do not Express Learned Helplessness like Males do

Posttraining androgens' enhancement of cognitive performance is temporally distinct from androgens' increases in affective behavior

The impact of the hormonal milieu and stress-associated hypothalamic dopaminergic activation on the rapid compensatory adrenal growth in cycling female rats

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