Influence of conspecific and predatory Stressors and their associated odors on defensive burying and freezing responses

Williams, Jon L.; Scott, D.K.

doi:10.3758/bf03205219

Cited by 37 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…More pertinent to the present study, it has been demonstrated that exposing rats to the odors of cats increased plasma levels of corticosterone (File et aI., 1993) and to the actual presence of a cat produced defensive fear responses and opioid-mediated analgesia (Lester & Fanselow, 1985;Williams & Barber, 1990;Williams & Groux, 1993;Williams, Rogers, et aL, 1990;Williams & Scott, 1989). As noted previously, opioid antagonists have been found to enhance memory Gallagher, Bostock, & King, 1985) and opioid agonists, such as morphine, to suppress memory (Spain & Newman, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Williams and his colleagues have shown that when rats are attacked and defeated by a dominant, or alpha male rat, learning and motivational deficits ensue that are accompanied by opioid-mediated analgesia (e.g., Hotsenpiller & Williams, 1996;Williams, 1989;Williams, Worland, & Smith, 1990). Of particular relevance to the current study, rats that have been exposed to a cat and/or cat odors, as a predator stressor, also display defensive fear responses and opioidmediated analgesia (Lester & Fanselow, 1985;Williams & Barber, 1990;Williams & Groux, 1993;Williams, Rogers, & Adler, 1990;Williams & Scott, 1989). In addition, File, Zangrossi, Sanders, and Mabbutt (1993) reported that when rats were exposed to the odors of cats intermittently for five daily sessions, they showed a significant increase in blood-plasma levels of corticosterone by the 3rd day.…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

et al. 1998

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effects of age and predator-induced stress, by exposing rats to a cat, were examined during subsequent testing of spatial working memory. Male rats (3 months and 20 months of age) were trained on a spatial delayed-alternation task using an elevated T maze. After subgroups were given intermittent protected-exposure sessions over a 3-day period to cats or to a control condition, they were tested on the working memory task. The old rats took more trials to reach training criterion. Overall , both stress-exposed groups exhibited a decline in accuracy 24 hr later and recovered completely during the subsequent test sessions. Surprisingly, young stressed rats showed significantly greater decrements in accuracy than old stressed rats. However, exposure to the stressor resulted in decreases in response speed that were comparable for both age groups. These findings are discussed in terms of possible changes in glucocorticoids , plasma corticosterone, and endogenous opioids that are known to be affected by age and stress and have been shown to influence spatial working memory.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

mentioning

confidence: 90%

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

et al. 1998

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of certain stimuli to enhance the strength or rate of conditioned fear reactions (Mineka & Cook, 1988;Williams & Scott, 1989). Such an ability for an organism to be selective or to have a biological preparedness to associate certain conditioned stimuli with aversive events can be thought of as being advantageous in terms of evolution.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considerable evidence indicates that certain stimuli can be more readily conditioned to fear-eliciting stimuli than can others. For example, when cat odors were associated with inescapable shock, as opposed to the hedonically neutral odor of citronella, more freezing was found during a subsequent test involving a single shock from a wall prod in the presence of cat odors (Williams & Scott, 1989). This striking increase in aversion to cat odors was not interpreted to be solely due to an innate fear, but it was also speculated to be because of a selective ability of such predator odors to be very effective conditioned stimuli, perhaps as a result of some form of "biological preparedness or relevance."…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A synthetic predator odor (TMT) enhances conditioned analgesia and fear when paired with a benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist (FG-7142)

Hotsenpiller

Williams

1997

Psychobiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonists, such as B-carboline-3-carboxylic acid n-methylamide (FG-7142), induce a state of fear and analgesia. These reactions can be conditioned to novel stimuli during drug administration. The present experiment was conducted to determine if FG-7142 is similar to other stressors such that certain ethologically relevant stimuli are more likely to become conditioned to a state of fear than are others. 2,5-Dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a compound previously isolated from the feces of the predator fox, and butyric acid (BA) were presented to male rats as novel odors after administration of FG-7142 or vehicle. A method of ensuring that equal amounts of these odors were presented to the subjects was employed. Six hours after one conditioning trial with drug or vehicle, the same nonodor or chemical odors were present during formalin tests for analgesia and fear-induced freezing. Compared with no-odor and BA groups, the TMT group showed significantly enhanced conditioned analgesia and fear when FG-7142 was administered during the conditioning session. However, relative to the other odor conditions, the TMT condition produced significantly higher levels of analgesia and freezing in the absence of the benzodiazepine inverse agonist, suggesting that this odor acts as an unconditioned stressor by itself.

show abstract

“…After the first contact with the electrified prod, the animals displace bedding material with typical alternating forward-pushing movements of their forepaws directed at the localized source of the aversive stimulation [Pinel and Treit, 1978;Treit et al, 1980]. This defensive behavior, which is a natural behavior also occurring outside of the laboratory [Pinel et al, 1989], differs depending on the social status of the male rodents [Sluyter et al, 1996[Sluyter et al, , 1999Williams and Scott, 1989]. Dominant males primarily show higher levels of defensive burying than subordinate males, who more frequently display a crouch/freezing tendency as a reactive defensive style.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogeny of sex differences in defensive burying behavior in rats: effect of social isolation

Arakawa

2006

Aggressive Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of the present experiments was to clarify sex differences in socio-developmental factors that affected defense behavior in rats. Sex differences in the defensive burying behavior of rats, and related social factors, were explored in three developmental stages: juvenile, puberty, and adult; 30, 50, and 80 days of age, respectively. The duration of burying, digging into bedding material, stretch-attend postures, and crouch/freezing were measured in a shock-prod test. For males, the duration of burying was longer in the juvenile and pubertal stages than in adulthood. For females, no age differences in the duration of burying were found. Males showed longer burying durations than females in both the juvenile and pubertal stages. For both sexes, the highest duration of digging was found in the juvenile stage, and females showed longer durations of digging than males. Both male and female rats isolated during the juvenile stage, from 26 to 40 days of age, showed smaller durations of burying behavior compared to pair-reared rats. This effect of juvenile isolation was maintained among both adult males and females even when they were returned to pair rearing after isolation. Isolation during adulthood, from 66 to 80 days of age, increased burying behavior in males, but decreased it in females. The durations of digging, stretch-attend postures, and crouch/freezing were not affected by isolation. The decrease in defensive burying and its increase resulting from isolation in adult male rats, suggest that the emergence of adult-like social relationships in males suppressed the duration of burying. Male and female rats isolated during the juvenile stage maintained lower levels of burying, suggesting that social experience as juveniles is important for the emergence of defensive burying behavior.

show abstract

Influence of conspecific and predatory Stressors and their associated odors on defensive burying and freezing responses

Cited by 37 publications

References 22 publications

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

Effects of Predator-Induced Stress and Age on Working Memory in Rats

A synthetic predator odor (TMT) enhances conditioned analgesia and fear when paired with a benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist (FG-7142)

Ontogeny of sex differences in defensive burying behavior in rats: effect of social isolation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About