Post-weaning social isolation induces abnormal forms of aggression in conjunction with increased glucocorticoid and autonomic stress responses

Tóth, Máté; Mikics, Éva; Tulogdi, Áron; Aliczki, Manó; Haller, József

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.02.003

Cited by 132 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Social behavior is dependent upon a number of factors including the social history of the individual [1,2], the testing environment [3], and characteristics of social partners [4–6]. Post-weaning social isolation (PSI, also known as isolation rearing) in rats has been shown to produce altered social behavior that includes both increased social interaction as well as increased aggression [7,8]. This suggests that even though the motivation for social interaction is increased after PSI, the social interactions themselves may be unpleasant for individuals that have been deprived of normal social interaction during the adolescent period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat

Goodell

Ahern

Baynard

et al. 2017

Behavioural Brain Research

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Post-weaning social isolation (PSI) has been shown to increase aggressive behavior and alter medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function in social species such as rats. Here we developed a novel escapable social interaction test (ESIT) allowing for the quantification of escape and social behaviors in addition to mPFC activation in response to an aggressive or nonaggressive stimulus rat. Male rats were exposed to 3 weeks of PSI (ISO) or group (GRP) housing, and exposed to 3 trials, with either no trial, all trials, or the last trial only with a stimulus rat. Analysis of social behaviors indicated that ISO rats spent less time in the escape chamber and more time engaged in social interaction, aggressive grooming, and boxing than did GRP rats. Interestingly, during the third trial all rats engaged in more of the quantified social behaviors and spent less time escaping in response to aggressive but not nonaggressive stimulus rats. Rats exposed to nonaggressive stimulus rats on the third trial had greater c-fos and ARC immunoreactivity in the mPFC than those exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. Conversely, a social encounter produced an increase in large PSD-95 punctae in the mPFC independently of trial number, but only in ISO rats exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. The results presented here demonstrate that PSI increases interaction time and aggressive behaviors during escapable social interaction, and that the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat in a social encounter is an important component of behavioral and neural outcomes for both isolation and group-reared rats.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat

Goodell

Ahern

Baynard

et al. 2017

Behavioural Brain Research

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“…Social deprivation during critical periods (e.g., post-weaning) leads to abnormal social behavior in adulthood (Fone and Porkess, 2008; Hermes et al, 2011; Toth et al, 2011). In rodents, social behavior has been studied extensively in juveniles, owing to the high levels of social play exhibited by rats at this age.…”

Section: 0 Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of c-Fos induction in response to social interaction in male and female Fisher 344 rats

et al. 2017

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Sex differences in the expression of social behavior are typically apparent in adolescent and adult rats. While the neurobiology underlying juvenile social play behavior has been well characterized, less is known about discrete brain regions involved in adult responsiveness to a same sex peer. Furthermore, whether adult males and females differ in their responsiveness to a social interaction in terms of neuronal activation indexed via immediate early gene (IEG) expression remains to be determined. Thus, the present study was designed to identify key sites relevant to the processing of sensory stimuli (generally) or social stimuli (specifically) after brief exposure to a same-sex social partner by assessing IEG expression. Four-month-old male and female Fisher (F) 344 rats (N = 38; n = 5–8/group) were either left undisturbed in their home cage as controls (HCC), exposed to a testing context alone for 30 min (CXT), or were placed in the context for 20 min and then allowed to socially interact (SI) with a sex-matched conspecific for 10 min. Females demonstrated greater levels of social behavior, relative to males. Analysis of c-Fos induction revealed that females exhibited greater c-Fos expression in the prefrontal cortex, regardless of condition. In many brain regions, induction was similar in the CXT and SI groups. However, in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), females exhibited greater c-Fos induction in response to the social interaction relative to their male counterparts, indicating a sex difference in responsivity to social stimuli. Taken together, these data suggest that the BNST is a sexually dimorphic region in terms of activation in response to social stimuli.

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“…For example, in rodents, adolescent chronic social stress (isolation, social reorganization, subordination during PND 28-70+) causes protracted corticosterone (CORT) responses and elevated basal CORT levels in adulthood and these effects can be prevented by anti-depressant (paroxetine) or corticotropin-releasing hormone 1 receptor antagonist (DMP696) administration during the stress procedure (Schmidt et al, 2007; Sterlemann et al, 2008; Ros-Simó & Valverde, 2012; Toth, Mikics, Tulogdi, Aliczki, & Haller, 2011). However, models of adolescent stress are highly variable (e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Temperament moderates the influence of periadolescent social experience on behavior and adrenocortical activity in adult male rats

Caruso

McClintock

Cavigelli

2014

Hormones and Behavior

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Adolescence is a period of significant behavioral and physiological maturation, particularly related to stress responses. Animal studies that have tested the influence of adolescent social experiences on stress-related behavioral and physiological development have led to complex results. We used a rodent model of neophobia to test the hypothesis that the influence of adolescent social experience on adult behavior and adrenocortical function is modulated by preadolescent temperament. Exploratory activity was assessed in 53 male Sprague-Dawley rats to classify temperament and then they were housed in one of three conditions during postnatal days (PND) 28-46: (1) with familiar kin, (2) with novel social partners, or (3) individually with no social partners. Effects on adult adrenocortical function were evaluated from fecal samples collected while rats were individually-housed and exposed to a 1-hour novel social challenge during PND 110-114. Adolescent-housing with novel or no social partners led to reduced adult glucocorticoid production compared to adolescent-housing with familiar littermates. Additionally, highly-exploratory pre-weanling rats that were housed with novel social partners during adolescence exhibited increased exploratory behavior and a more rapid return to basal glucocorticoid production in adulthood compared to those housed with familiar or no social partners during adolescence and compared to low-exploratory rats exposed to novel social partners. In sum, relatively short-term adolescent social experiences can cause transient changes in temperament and potentially longer-term changes in recovery of glucocorticoid production in response to adult social challenges. Furthermore, early temperament may modulate the influence of adolescent experiences on adult behavioral and adrenocortical function.

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Post-weaning social isolation induces abnormal forms of aggression in conjunction with increased glucocorticoid and autonomic stress responses

Cited by 132 publications

References 69 publications

A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat

A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat

Analysis of c-Fos induction in response to social interaction in male and female Fisher 344 rats

Temperament moderates the influence of periadolescent social experience on behavior and adrenocortical activity in adult male rats

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