Citation

Mercier S, Frédéric, Canini, Buguet A, Cespuglio R, Martin S, Bourdon L. Behav. Brain Res. 2003; 139(1-2): 167-175.

Affiliation

Centre de recherches du service de santé des armées, CRSSA/FH, BP 87, F-38702 La Tronche, Cedex, France. sarah.mercier@netcourrier.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12642187

Abstract

Behavioural consequences of different acute stressors (30 min of restraint, 20 min of forced swim stress, 15 min of inescapable footshocks) applied at the beginning of the active period were assessed in using two behavioural tests: a 20 min light extinction test 24 h after the stressor exposure in order to explore the psychomotor ability and a 10 min open field session within the dark period 48 h after the stressor exposure to estimate the emotional status and the locomotor activity of the rat. Different behavioural responses were observed depending on the nature of the applied stressor. In the light extinction test, the footshock-stressed rats developed a very low activity independent on light conditions whereas the rats submitted to forced swim and restraint exhibited an activity level depending on the strain. Moreover, restrained rats had a higher transient activity than forced swim rats under light condition. In the open field test, none of the stressed rats did develop differences in behaviour. The efficacy of a 24 h recovery period on the behavioural response to an acute stressor exposure depends on the intensity of the applied stressor and the behavioural demands.

Language: en