Citation

Kalynchuk LE, Gregus A, Boudreau D, Perrot-Sinal TS. Behav. Neurosci. 2004; 118(6): 1365-1377.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. lisa.kalynchuk@dal.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/0735-7044.118.6.1365

PMID

15598145

Abstract

This experiment examined the effect of repeated corticosterone injections on anxiety and depression-like behavior in male and female rats. Rats received either corticosterone or vehicle injections for 21 consecutive days prior to behavioral testing in the forced swim, open-field, and predator odor tests. The corticosterone injections significantly increased depression-like behavior in the forced swim test in both male and female rats but had no significant effect on anxiety in the open-field test. In the predator odor test, the corticosterone injections significantly increased a subset of defensive behaviors in the male rats. These results suggest that repeated exposure to corticosterone increases depression-like behavior, with some effects on anxiety, and that male rats may be more affected than female rats by this manipulation.

Language: en