The effect of conspecifics on corticoadrenal response of rats to a novel environment

Armario, Antonio; Luna, Georgina Cecilia; Balasch, Juan

doi:10.1016/s0163-1047(83)91425-5

Cited by 42 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In adults, corticosterone response to a novel box is lower if rats are tested in pairs than if they are tested alone (File & Peet, 1980). Interestingly, adult rats show lower reactivity to stressful stimuli if they are with a nonfamiliar conspecific than if they are confronting it with a familiar conspecific that they were previously housed with (Armario, Luna, & Balasch, 1983; Armario, Ortiz, & Balasch, 1983). This is thought to be due to a higher novelty effect of the environment (i.e., new location) when the animal is placed there with a familiar conspecific that it can ignore.…”

Section: Animal Models Of the Hpa Dampening Effect By Social Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis: A review of animal models and human studies across development.

Hostinar

Sullivan

Gunnar

2014

Psychological Bulletin

612

513

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Discovering the stress-buffering effects of social relationships has been one of the major findings in psychobiology in the last century. However, an understanding of the underlying neurobiological and psychological mechanisms of this buffering is only beginning to emerge. An important avenue of this research concerns the neurocircuitry that can regulate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. The present review is a translational effort aimed at integrating animal models and human studies of the social regulation of the HPA axis from infancy to adulthood, specifically focusing on the process that has been named social buffering. This process has been noted across species and consists of a dampened HPA axis stress response to threat or challenge that occurs with the presence or assistance of a conspecific. We describe aspects of the relevant underlying neurobiology when enough information exists and expose major gaps in our understanding across all domains of the literatures we aimed to integrate. We provide a working conceptual model focused on the role of oxytocinergic systems and prefrontal neural networks as two of the putative biological mediators of this process, and propose that the role of early experiences is critical in shaping later social buffering effects. This synthesis points to both general future directions and specific experiments that need to be conducted to build a more comprehensive model of the HPA social buffering effect across the lifespan that incorporates multiple levels of analysis: neuroendocrine, behavioral, and social.

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Section: Animal Models Of the Hpa Dampening Effect By Social Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis: A review of animal models and human studies across development.

Hostinar

Sullivan

Gunnar

2014

Psychological Bulletin

612

513

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Friendly social contact between animals can serve to buffer them against aversive events (Armario et al, 1983;Kikusui et al, 2006) and alter pain sensitivity (Langford et al, 2006). Because tickling, like social play, is modulated by endogenous opioids (Burgdorf and Panksepp, 2001) which are also involved in the endogenous control of pain, it could potentially have analgesic effects.…”

Section: Pairing An Injection With Ticklingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Handling stress can also impact the quality of experimental data from animals, for instance in studies of learning and cognition, because stress is known to disrupt cognitive processes (Mendl, 1999). Positive social and tactile contact among animals has been found to reduce the impact of aversive events (Armario et al, 1983;Kikusui et al, 2006). Considering that laboratory rats can respond positively to both humans and conspecifics Sloan and Latané, 1974;Werner and Latané, 1974), it is possible that the positive qualities of human-animals interactions could reduce stress in experimental animals, thereby improving welfare and increasing data quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playful handling of laboratory rats is more beneficial when applied before than after routine injections

Cloutier

Wahl

Panksepp

et al. 2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…For example, the deleterious effects of repeated social defeat (placing a rodent into the cage of a larger aggressive male) are observed in singly housed rats and are attenuated by social housing (e.g., de Jong et al, 2005). The evidence of a social buffering of social relationships in adult rodents, however, is mixed, with evidence of greater corticosterone release in response to a stressor when with a familiar conspecific than an unfamiliar one (Armario et al, 1983a,b) and evidence of less corticosterone release in response to a stressor when with a conspecific than when alone (File and Peet, 1980).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of social context on endocrine function and Zif268 expression in response to an acute stressor in adolescent and adult rats

Hodges

Green

Simone

et al. 2014

Intl J of Devlp Neuroscience

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There is a paucity of studies comparing social buffering in adolescents and adults, despite their marked differences in social behavior. We investigated whether greater effects of social buffering on plasma corticosterone concentrations and expression of Zif268 in neural regions after an acute stressor would be found in adolescent than adult rats. Samples were obtained before and after 1h of isolation stress and after either 1 or 3h of recovery back in the colony with either a familiar or unfamiliar cage partner. Adolescent and adult rats did not differ in plasma concentrations of corticosterone at any time point. Corticosterone concentrations were higher after 1h isolation than at baseline (p<0.001), and rats with a familiar partner during the recovery phase had lower corticosterone concentrations than did rats with an unfamiliar partner (p=0.02). Zif268 immunoreactive cell counts were higher in the arcuate nucleus in both age groups after isolation (p=0.007) and in the paraventricular nucleus of adolescents than adults during the recovery phase irrespective of partner familiarity. There was a significant decrease in immunoreactive cell counts after 1h isolation compared to baseline in the basolateral amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala, and in the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus (all p<0.05). An effect of partner familiarity on Zif268 immunoreactive cell counts was found in the granule layer of the dentate gyrus irrespective of age (higher in those with a familiar partner, p=0.03) and in the medial prefrontal cortex in adolescents (higher with an unfamiliar partner, p=0.02). Overall, the acute stress and partner familiarity produced a similar pattern of results in adolescents and adults, with both age groups sensitive to the social context.

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The effect of conspecifics on corticoadrenal response of rats to a novel environment

Cited by 42 publications

References 9 publications

Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis: A review of animal models and human studies across development.

Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis: A review of animal models and human studies across development.

Playful handling of laboratory rats is more beneficial when applied before than after routine injections

Effects of social context on endocrine function and Zif268 expression in response to an acute stressor in adolescent and adult rats

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