Ontogeny of defensive reactions in Norway rats.

Bronstein, Paul M.; Hirsch, Stephen M.

doi:10.1037/h0077224

Cited by 55 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the effects of the presence of a natural predator (e.g., Blanchard & Blanchard, 1971;Blanchard, Mast, & Blanchard, 1975;Bronstein & Hirsch, 1976;Curti, 1935;Griffith, 1920;Hofer, 1970;Price, 1970;Satinder, 1976) or a human (Gallup & Suarez, 1980) on activity patterns in several species. All of these studies report that behaviors that minimize detectability (i.e., inhibition of movement and vocalization) are enhanced when either a predator or a human is present.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predatory overtones of open-field testing in chickens

Suarez

Gallup

1981

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Based on a modelwhich holds that open-field behavior is due in large part to an interaction between social separation and the threat of predation, seven experiments were conducted to examine the relationship between tonic immobility and open-field activity in chickens. The results showed that placement in an open field prior to testing for tonic immobility reliably enhanced the duration of immobility. Similarly, procedures that have been shown to modify the length of the immobility episode had a comparable effect on the timing of activity onset in an open field. Since tonic immobility has been independently implicated as a putative predator defense, the correspondence between open-field behavior and tonic immobility was taken as indirect support for the hypothesis that open-field testing contains overtones of predation.153

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predatory overtones of open-field testing in chickens

Suarez

Gallup

1981

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…We found a continuous increase in oligodendrocyte numbers in all amygdala nuclei from 4 weeks to 7 months of age, a period that coincides with significant changes in defensive behaviors. Indeed, 50-day-old rats are more attentive and display longer freezing, at a greater distance from the threat, than 20-day-old rats (Bronstein and Hirsch, 1976). In contrast, although 4-week-old mice exhibit more rapid and more robust acquisition of a conditioned association between an auditory stimulus and a foot shock compared with 6-8-week-old mice (Hefner and Holmes, 2007), other studies have shown that 4-week-old mice also display excessive generalization to auditory conditioned stimuli compared with 9-10-week-old mice .…”

Section: Functional Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Individual components of the fear response are thought to incorporate sequentially as animals mature, eventually giving rise to what are identified as mature fear behaviors (Wiedenmayer, 2009). Indeed, several studies have revealed that distinct fear behaviors emerge at different times during early postnatal life and continue to mature during late postnatal development (Blozovski and Cudennec, 1980;Bronstein and Hirsch, 1976;Chen et al, 2006;Collier et al, 1979;Foster and Burman, 2010;Hefner and Holmes, 2007;Hubbard et al, 2004;Ito et al, 2009;Kim and Richardson, 2007;Moriceau et al, 2004;Raineki et al, 2010;Rudy, 1993;Takahashi, 1992;Wiedenmayer andBarr, 1998, 2001a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postnatal development of the amygdala: A stereological study in rats

Chareyron

Lavenex

2012

J of Comparative Neurology

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The amygdala is the central component of a functional brain system regulating fear and emotional behaviors. Studies of the ontogeny of fear behaviors reveal the emergence of distinct fear responses at different postnatal ages. Here, we performed a stereological analysis of the rat amygdala to characterize the cellular changes underlying its normal structural development. Distinct amygdala nuclei exhibited different patterns of postnatal development, which were largely similar to those we have previously shown in monkeys. The combined volume of the lateral, basal, and accessory basal nuclei increased by 113% from 1 to 3 weeks of age and by an additional 33% by 7 months of age. The volume of the central nucleus increased only 37% from 1 to 2 weeks of age and 38% from 2 weeks to 7 months. At 1 week of age, the medial nucleus was 77% of the 7-monthold's volume and exhibited a constant, marginal increase until 7 months. Neuron number did not differ in the amygdala from 1 week to 7 months of age. In contrast, astrocyte number decreased from 3 weeks to 2 months of age in the whole amygdala. Oligodendrocyte number increased in all amygdala nuclei from 3 weeks to 7 months of age. Our findings revealed that distinct amygdala nuclei exhibit different developmental profiles and that the rat amygdala is not fully mature for an extended period postnatally. We identified different periods of postnatal development of distinct amygdala nuclei and cellular components, which are concomitant with the ontogeny of different fear and emotional behaviors.

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“…In adults, these behaviors have been shown to be inhibited in the presence of a threatening stimulus (Blanchard and Blanchard 1989;Blanchard et al 1990). This inhibition of ongoing behavior in response to threat is also seen in pups as they transition to independence around weaning (Bronstein and Hirsch 1976), and includes reduced play (Siviy et al 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning

2016

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As altricial infants gradually transition to adults, their proximate environment changes. In three short weeks, pups transition from a small world with the caregiver and siblings to a complex milieu rich in dangers as their environment expands. Such contrasting environments require different learning abilities and lead to distinct responses throughout development. Here, we will review some of the learned fear conditioned responses to threats in rats during their ontogeny, including behavioral and physiological measures that permit the assessment of learning and its supporting neurobiology from infancy through adulthood. In adulthood, odor-shock conditioning produces robust fear learning to the odor that depends upon the amygdala and related circuitry. Paradoxically, this conditioning in young pups fails to support fear learning and supports approach learning to the odor previously paired with shock. This approach learning is mediated by the infant attachment network that does not include the amygdala. During the age range when pups transition from the infant to the adult circuit (10 -15 d old), pups have access to both networks: odor -shock conditioning in maternal presence uses the attachment circuit but the adult amygdala-dependent circuit when alone. However, throughout development (as young as 5 d old) the attachment associated learning can be overridden and amygdala-dependent fear learning supported, if the mother expresses fear in the presence of the pup. This social modulation of the fear permits the expression of defense reactions in life threatening situations informed by the caregiver but prevents the learning of the caregiver itself as a threat.

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Ontogeny of defensive reactions in Norway rats.

Cited by 55 publications

References 36 publications

Predatory overtones of open-field testing in chickens

Predatory overtones of open-field testing in chickens

Postnatal development of the amygdala: A stereological study in rats

Ecologically relevant neurobehavioral assessment of the development of threat learning

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