Sudden Darkness Induces a High Activity-Low Anxiety State in Male and Female Rats

Nasello, Antonia G.; Machado, C. R.; Bastos, José Roberto Magalhães; Felício, Luciano Freitas

doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(97)00462-9

Cited by 114 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Exploratory behavior in both rats and mice is decreased under high illumination in the open field test (16-18), a phenomenon also attributed to increased anxiety. A complementary effect is observed after exposure to sudden darkness, which induces a sudden decrease in measures of anxiety in the open field (19). Finally, darkness increases entry into the open arms of an elevated plus maze (19), whereas bright light causes a decrease in the frequency and duration of open arm exploration (20) (but see ref.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Light enhances learned fear

Warthen¹,

Wiltgen

Provencio³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The ability to learn, remember, and respond to emotional events is a powerful survival strategy. However, dysregulated behavioral and physiological responses to these memories are maladaptive. To fully understand learned fear and the pathologies that arise during response malfunction we must reveal the environmental variables that influence learned fear responses. Light, a ubiquitous environmental feature, modulates cognition and anxiety. We hypothesized that light modulates responses to learned fear. Using tone-cued fear conditioning, we found that light enhances behavioral responses to learned fear in C57BL/6J mice. Mice in light freeze more in response to a conditioned cue than mice in darkness. The absence of significant freezing during a 2-wk habituation period and during intertrial intervals indicated that light specifically modulates freezing to the learned acoustic cue rather than the context of the experimental chamber. Repeating our assay in two photoreceptor mutant models, Pde6b rd1/rd1 and Opn4 −/− mice, revealed that lightdependent enhancement of conditioned fear is driven primarily by the rods and/or cones. By repeating our protocol with an altered lighting regimen, we found that lighting conditions acutely modulate responses when altered between conditioning and testing. This is manifested either as an enhancement of freezing when light is added during testing or as a depression of freezing when light is removed during testing. Acute enhancement, but not depression, requires both rod/cone-and melanopsin-dependent photoreception. Our results demonstrate a modulation by light of behavioral responses to learned fear.L ight is a pervasive feature of the environment and exerts broad effects on behavior and physiology via two parallel pathways (1). The familiar image-forming visual pathway allows discernment of objects in the environment according to physical qualities: their color, form, texture, and motion. The parallel non-image forming (NIF) pathway enables light to exert numerous effects on physiology and behavior independently of image formation, such as pupil constriction, modulation of heart rate, and the synchronization of circadian rhythms and sleepwake cycles to the daily light-dark cycle (2). In addition to the effects of light on basic physiological functions, light also modulates higher-order cognitive processes, including anxiety, mood, and alertness/awakeness (3, 4). The retina, the sole photosensory organ in mammals, projects directly to brain regions involved in emotional responses. Among these are the amygdala, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the periaqueductal gray (5). Activity in some of these regions is known to be acutely modulated by light in a wavelength-dependent manner (3, 6), whereas the link between photoreception and function in other retinorecipient emotional processing areas remains to be elucidated.Brain sites involved in emotional processing participate in the critical function of learning and remembering emotionally arousing events. This function enables ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Light enhances learned fear

Warthen¹,

Wiltgen

Provencio³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…On the other hand, to the extent that assessing the limits of the space in which an animal finds itself on a daily basis is an important determinant of its behavior, we expect to see persistent time spent in the outer circle of the field, including sniffing and whisker contact at the edge of the field. Finally, based on past results, we expect males to show more "security seeking" than females, spending more time in the center and the center-facing corners, and groups run in the dark to spend less time in the center of the field than comparable groups run in the light [4,9,15,21,30]. M a n u s c r i p t…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of rat sex differences and lighting on locomotor exploration of a circular open field with free-standing central corners and without peripheral walls

Alstott

Timberlake

2009

Behavioural Brain Research

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Abstract:A typical open field consists of a square enclosure, bounded by four straight walls joined by identical corners. For decades behavioral researchers have used the open center and more sheltered perimeter of such fields to examine the effects of drugs, sex differences, and illumination on the behavioral expression of fear and anxiety. The present study used a circular field to "reverse" the security of different areas, providing a center sheltered by six free-standing corners and an open perimeter to re-examine the functional relation of open field behavior to experience, sex differences and lighting. Across six daily exposures, males in both the light and dark rapidly increased their preference for the center. Females in the light developed a similar pattern, though more slowly; females in the dark continued to spend the great majority of their time in the open periphery, including the edge of the field. The behavior of all groups, but especially the dark females, strongly supports the continued importance of environmental assessment in open field behavior.

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“…No entanto, antes de chegarem ao SNC, as larvas passam pela musculatura do hospedeiro causando decréscimo na força muscular Alterações comportamentais em roedores têm sido habitualmente estudadas com a utilização de labirinto em cruz elevado, arena ou gaiola para movimentação em campo aberto (Burright et al 1982;Chieffi et al, 2010;Dolinsk et al, 1981;Martinez et al, 2005;Nasello et al, 1998;Pellow et al,1985;Silva et al, 1997;Walf e Frye, 2007).…”

Section: Toxocaríase Humanaunclassified

“…Labirinto em cruz elevado é o método mais utilizado na pesquisa da ansiedade em roedores e tem como base, respostas incondicionadas a ambientes potencialmente perigosos (Montgomery, 1955;Nasello, et al, 1998;Walf e Frye, 2007 Além da utilização do labirinto em cruz elevado para verificar ansiedade em animais tratados com drogas ansiogênicas/ansiolíticas tem-se utilizado também para análise da alteração comportamental de animais experimentalmente infectados por parasitos (Chieffi et al, 2010;Skallová et al, 2006). …”

Section: Labirinto Em Cruz Elevadounclassified

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Alterações comportamentais em Rattus norvegicus experimentalmente infectados por Toxocara cati ou T. canis

Santos¹

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Sudden Darkness Induces a High Activity-Low Anxiety State in Male and Female Rats

Cited by 114 publications

References 16 publications

Light enhances learned fear

Light enhances learned fear

Effects of rat sex differences and lighting on locomotor exploration of a circular open field with free-standing central corners and without peripheral walls

Alterações comportamentais em Rattus norvegicus experimentalmente infectados por Toxocara cati ou T. canis

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