Methods in Emotional Behavioral Testing in Immature Epilepsy Rodent Models

Salah, Houssein; Medlej, Yasser; Karnib, Nabil; Darwish, Nora; Asdikian, Rita; Wehbe, Sarah; Makki, Ghadir; Obeid, Makram

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-9554-7_24

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Methodologies optimized for immature animals are not always congruent with adults 30 . However, in principle, several of the tests described in Appendix S1 can be used also in immature (e.g., weanling) rats and mice, for example, the Morris water maze, 36 novel object recognition, 37 and sensorimotor tests 38 or tests to determine emotional behavioral derangements 39 (see also Section 7).…”

Section: Experimental Methods Used To Assess Neurobehavioral Comorbid...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…143 Furthermore, the ability of immature animals to perform behavioral tests at different ages must be considered, and tests might need to be modified according to age. 39,144 For example, rodents can learn to navigate the Morris water maze at P13 or earlier, but the interpretation of their performance on this and other behavioral tests needs to account for improving physical and cognitive abilities with age. 36,145 In addition, all of the inter-and within-laboratory variables that affect studies using adult rodents apply to immature animals as well.…”

Section: Alterations In Models Of Developmental Seizures and Birth As...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Epilepsy and its neurobehavioral comorbidities: Insights gained from animal models

Löscher

Stafstrom

2022

Epilepsia

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Section: Experimental Methods Used To Assess Neurobehavioral Comorbid...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Alterations In Models Of Developmental Seizures and Birth As...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Epilepsy and its neurobehavioral comorbidities: Insights gained from animal models

Löscher

Stafstrom

2022

Epilepsia

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“…The MWM (P80-85) was performed in a dark-blue circular plastic pool (Coulbourn Instruments, Allentown, PA, USA), 150 cm in diameter and 80 cm in height, filled with water (25 °C) to a depth of 30 cm, as previously described [ 42 , 57 , 58 ]. During habituation, rats were allowed to swim freely for 2 min.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MAAV (P88-94) conditioning test was developed in our laboratory to concurrently assess adaptive avoidance of both context-cued and tone-signaled electrical foot-shocks [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. The MAAV shuttle box (Coulbourn Instruments, Allentown, PA, USA) consists of two equal compartments connected via an opening in the middle of the partition wall.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potentiating Hemorrhage in a Periadolescent Rat Model of Closed-Head Traumatic Brain Injury Worsens Hyperexcitability but Not Behavioral Deficits

Jalloul

Hajjar

Asdikian

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) and neurocognitive deficits are devastating sequelae of head injuries that are common in adolescents. Investigating desperately needed treatments is hindered by the difficulties in inducing PTE in rodents and the lack of established immature rat models of pediatric PTE. Hemorrhage is a significant risk factor for PTE, but compared to humans, rats are less prone to bleeding because of their rapid blood coagulation system. In this study, we promoted bleeding in the controlled cortical impact (CCI) closed-head injury model with a 20 min pre-impact 600 IU/kg intraperitoneal heparin injection in postnatal day 35 (P35) periadolescent rats, given the preponderance of such injuries in this age group. Temporo-parietal CCI was performed post-heparin (HTBI group) or post-saline (TBI group). Controls were subjected to sham procedures following heparin or saline administration. Continuous long-term EEG monitoring was performed for 3 months post-CCI. Sensorimotor testing, the Morris water maze, and a modified active avoidance test were conducted between P80 and P100. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) levels and neuronal damage were also assessed. Compared to TBI rats, HTBI rats had persistently higher EEG spiking and increased hippocampal GFAP levels (p < 0.05). No sensorimotor deficits were detected in any group. Compared to controls, both HTBI and TBI groups had a long-term hippocampal neuronal loss (p < 0.05), as well as contextual and visuospatial learning deficits (p < 0.05). The hippocampal astrogliosis and EEG spiking detected in all rats subjected to our hemorrhage-promoting procedure suggest the emergence of hyperexcitable networks and pave the way to a periadolescent PTE rat model.

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“…While classical Pavlovian conditioning paradigms assess the emergence of CS-induced reactive innate defensive freezing, more elaborate adaptive behavioral responses are acquired in the instrumental types of conditioning such as the two-way active avoidance (TAA) test. In standard TAA testing, animals learn to prevent (avoidance) tone-signaled electrical foot shocks by shuttling via a door that separates two adjacent compartments ( LeDoux et al, 2017 ; Medlej et al, 2019a ; Salah et al, 2019 ). The translational relevance to psychiatric conditions, mostly anxiety disorders, has been the main driving force behind a wealth of animal research literature on a variety of experimental conditioning designs, including TAA, and their neurobiological underpinnings reverberating around the amygdala, the key orchestrator of CS–US coupling, and of the ensuing CS-induced defensive freezing reactions ( Maren, 2005 ; Johansen et al, 2011 ; Izquierdo et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Modified Two-Way Active Avoidance Test for Combined Contextual and Auditory Instrumental Conditioning

Salah

Rassoul

Medlej

et al. 2021

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Available two-way active avoidance paradigms do not provide contextual testing, likely due to challenges in performing repetitive trials of context exposure. To incorporate contextual conditioning in the two-way shuttle box, we contextually modified one of the chambers of a standard two-chamber rat shuttle box with visual cues consisting of objects and black and white stripe patterns. During the 5 training days, electrical foot shocks were delivered every 10 s in the contextually modified chamber but were signaled by a tone in the plain chamber. Shuttling between chambers prevented an incoming foot shock (avoidance) or aborted an ongoing one (escape). During contextual retention testing, rats were allowed to freely roam in the box. During auditory retention testing, visual cues were removed, and tone-signaled shocks were delivered in both chambers. Avoidance gradually replaced escape or freezing behaviors reaching 80% on the last training day in both chambers. Rats spent twice more time in the plain chamber during contextual retention testing and had 90% avoidance rates during auditory retention testing. Our modified test successfully assesses both auditory and contextual two-way active avoidance. By efficiently expanding its array of outcomes, our novel test will complement standard two-way active avoidance in mechanistic studies and will improve its applications in translational research.

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Methods in Emotional Behavioral Testing in Immature Epilepsy Rodent Models

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

Epilepsy and its neurobehavioral comorbidities: Insights gained from animal models

Epilepsy and its neurobehavioral comorbidities: Insights gained from animal models

Potentiating Hemorrhage in a Periadolescent Rat Model of Closed-Head Traumatic Brain Injury Worsens Hyperexcitability but Not Behavioral Deficits

A Modified Two-Way Active Avoidance Test for Combined Contextual and Auditory Instrumental Conditioning

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