TY - JOUR
T1 - Peripubertal anxiety profile can predict predisposition to spatial memory impairments following chronic stress
AU - Bellani, Rudy
AU - Luecken, Linda
AU - Conrad, Cheryl
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by MH64727 (Conrad), The Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Undergraduate Biology Enrichment Program (Bellani) and the National Institutes of Health through the Minority Access to Research Careers (Bellani). The contributions of Sarah Baran, James Harman, Karine Kotzmann, Katie McLaughlin, Russell Romeo, Mary Vernov and Ryan Wright are greatly appreciated. A special acknowledgment to Sandford Braver, for his dedication and support for Bellani's undergraduate honor's thesis research.
PY - 2006/1/30
Y1 - 2006/1/30
N2 - We tested the hypothesis that peripubertal anxiety levels are predictive of the detrimental effects of chronic stress on hippocampal-dependent spatial memory. The anxiety levels of peripubertal male Sprague-Dawley rats (43 days old) were characterized using open field and elevated plus mazes, followed by chronic restraint stress for 6 h/day/21 days beginning in young adulthood (75 days). Following chronic stress treatment, rats were tested on the spatial Y-maze using two inter-trial interval levels of difficulty (4 h: 1 day post-chronic stress; 1 min: 2 days post-chronic stress). As expected, all groups displayed intact spatial memory in the less difficult 1 min version of the Y-maze. However, in the 4 h version of the Y-maze, chronically stressed high anxiety rats showed impaired spatial memory, while chronically stressed low anxiety and control (low and high anxiety) rats displayed intact spatial memory. Moreover, a month after chronic stress ended, high anxiety rats had significantly higher basal corticosterone levels than low anxiety rats (control and stress). These results indicate that peripubertal anxiety and chronic stress interact to influence hippocampal-dependent spatial memory in adulthood.
AB - We tested the hypothesis that peripubertal anxiety levels are predictive of the detrimental effects of chronic stress on hippocampal-dependent spatial memory. The anxiety levels of peripubertal male Sprague-Dawley rats (43 days old) were characterized using open field and elevated plus mazes, followed by chronic restraint stress for 6 h/day/21 days beginning in young adulthood (75 days). Following chronic stress treatment, rats were tested on the spatial Y-maze using two inter-trial interval levels of difficulty (4 h: 1 day post-chronic stress; 1 min: 2 days post-chronic stress). As expected, all groups displayed intact spatial memory in the less difficult 1 min version of the Y-maze. However, in the 4 h version of the Y-maze, chronically stressed high anxiety rats showed impaired spatial memory, while chronically stressed low anxiety and control (low and high anxiety) rats displayed intact spatial memory. Moreover, a month after chronic stress ended, high anxiety rats had significantly higher basal corticosterone levels than low anxiety rats (control and stress). These results indicate that peripubertal anxiety and chronic stress interact to influence hippocampal-dependent spatial memory in adulthood.
KW - Corticosterone
KW - Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
KW - Restraint
KW - Y-maze
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2005.08.006
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2005.08.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 16214234
AN - SCOPUS:28944451579
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 166
SP - 263
EP - 270
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
IS - 2
ER -