Social influences on cortisol and behavioral responses of preweaning, periadolescent, and adult guinea pigs

Hennessy, Michael B.; O’Leary, Shonagh K.; Hawke, Jessie L.; Wilson, Shannon E.

doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(02)00712-6

Cited by 58 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The pups follow the mother, and would be expected to routinely encounter other members of the group, which would commonly consist of a dominant male, a small harem of breeding females, as well as other pups (Asher, 2004;Asher et al, 2004). Although other females can be accepting of pups (Rood, 1972), they are also more aggressive to the pups (Graves & Hennessy, 2000) and are less consistently able to calm them as measured by plasma cortisol responses (Graves & Hennessy, 2000;Hennessy, O'Leary, Hawke, & Wilson, 2002;Hennessy & Ritchey, 1987). For the preweaning guinea pig that finds itself in isolation, both the emission of contact calls, as well as ambulation, would be ways in which the pup might achieve reunion with its mother.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brief exposure to the biological mother “potentiates” the isolation behavior of precocial Guinea pig pups

2006

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When isolated rat pups are briefly reunited with a lactating female, her subsequent removal leads to a dramatic increase in the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations, but not other behaviors. Whether this socially induced augmentation of isolation behavior (i.e., "potentiation") is characteristic only of altricial rodents is not known. Therefore, we examined precocial guinea pig pups in a potentiation paradigm. Ten-day-old guinea pigs were isolated in a test cage for 10 min, at which time they were then placed into a second cage for 5 min that either contained a companion or, for controls, was empty. Pups were then isolated again in the test cage for a second 10-min period. Control pups showed a significant reduction in vocalizing and locomotor activity from the first to second isolation period. Exposure to the biological mother prevented the decline in both behaviors (Experiment 1), whereas exposure to a familiar littermate (Experiment 2) had no effect, and exposure to an unfamiliar lactating female (Experiment 3) had only a minimal effect on locomotor activity. The results show that potentiation of isolation behaviors is not limited to altricial rodents, and suggest that specific characteristics of the effect (i.e., its magnitude, the specific behaviors affected, and the selectivity of the response to particular social partners) varies with the abilities and requirements of the young, as well as the behavioral ecology of the species in question.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brief exposure to the biological mother “potentiates” the isolation behavior of precocial Guinea pig pups

2006

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“…To ensure individual and species survival, complex social behaviors have developed over time (Amodio and Frith, 2006;Cohen, 2004;Strodl and Schausberger, 2012), and in multiple mammalian species, the presence of a conspecific reduces behavioral and autonomic responses to a threat (Davitz and Mason, 1955;DeVries et al, 2003;Hennessy et al, 2000;Hennessy et al, 2002;Kiyokawa et al, 2007Kiyokawa et al, , 2009Kiyokawa et al, , 2012Nakayasu and Kato, 2011;Terranova et al, 1999). Such reductions in threat responses can be even greater when the conspecific is familiar.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Regulating Social Familiarity-Induced Anxiolysis

Lungwitz

Stuber

Johnson

et al. 2013

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Overcoming specific fears and subsequent anxiety can be greatly enhanced by the presence of familiar social partners, but the neural circuitry that controls this phenomenon remains unclear. To overcome this, the social interaction (SI) habituation test was developed in this lab to systematically investigate the effects of social familiarity on anxiety-like behavior in rats. Here, we show that social familiarity selectively reduced anxiety-like behaviors induced by an ethological anxiogenic stimulus. The anxiolytic effect of social familiarity could be elicited over multiple training sessions and was specific to both the presence of the anxiogenic stimulus and the familiar social partner. In addition, socially familiar conspecifics served as a safety signal, as anxiety-like responses returned in the absence of the familiar partner. The expression of the social familiarity-induced anxiolysis (SFiA) appears dependent on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area associated with cortical regulation of fear and anxiety behaviors. Inhibition of the PFC, with bilateral injections of the GABA A agonist muscimol, selectively blocked the expression of SFiA while having no effect on SI with a novel partner. Finally, the effect of D-cycloserine, a cognitive enhancer that clinically enhances behavioral treatments for anxiety, was investigated with SFiA. D-cycloserine, when paired with familiarity training sessions, selectively enhanced the rate at which SFiA was acquired. Collectively, these outcomes suggest that the PFC has a pivotal role in SFiA, a complex behavior involving the integration of social cues of familiarity with contextual and emotional information to regulate anxiety-like behavior.

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“…One might argue that females of this age simply do not provide an adequate stimulus to elicit sexual behavior; however, male guinea pigs are known to court sexually immature females (Sachser & Hendrichs, 1982), and in some cases, full sexual maturation of female guinea pigs has been observed before 30 days of age (Avery, 1925). In a recent study in our standard novel test cage, we observed adult males to regularly mount females of about 40 days of age, and in one case, the young female lordosed and the male achieved intromission (Hennessy, O'Leary, Hawke, & Wilson, 2002). Thus, the complete absence of mounting of the sister by the male raises the possibility that continuous housing with the mother, or perhaps with the sister, inhibited sexual behavior directed at her by the maturing male.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Sexual interactions of maturing male guinea pigs with their mothers, sisters, and unfamiliar adult females in the home cage

Hennessy

Reed

Wilson

et al. 2002

Developmental Psychobiology

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During observations in the home cage in the light and dark on days 5, 15, 25, 35, and 45, male guinea pigs mounted and exhibited anogenital investigation of the mother, though appropriately directed mounting occurred infrequently and was not shown by all males. Mothers nipped and kicked advancing males. No mounting of a female sibling was observed. When behavioral interactions of approximately 35-day-old males with the mother or an unfamiliar adult female were compared during 1-hr tests in the home cage, males exhibited much higher levels of mounting and anogenital investigation, and received many more nips and kicks, when with the unfamiliar female. The results 1) demonstrate that limited maternally directed sexual behavior occurs in the home cage, 2) support earlier findings indicating that continuous housing with the mother suppresses maternally directed sexual behavior in periadolescent guinea pig males, and 3) suggest that sexual behavior toward female siblings also is suppressed.

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Social influences on cortisol and behavioral responses of preweaning, periadolescent, and adult guinea pigs

Cited by 58 publications

References 49 publications

Brief exposure to the biological mother “potentiates” the isolation behavior of precocial Guinea pig pups

Brief exposure to the biological mother “potentiates” the isolation behavior of precocial Guinea pig pups

The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Regulating Social Familiarity-Induced Anxiolysis

Sexual interactions of maturing male guinea pigs with their mothers, sisters, and unfamiliar adult females in the home cage

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