Citation

Vindas MA, Helland-Riise SH, Nilsson GE, Øverli Ø. Sci. Rep. 2019; 9(1): e3792.

Affiliation

Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/s41598-019-40390-3

PMID

30846817

Abstract

Recent theories in evolutionary medicine have suggested that behavioural outputs associated with depression-like states (DLS) could be an adaptation to unpredictable and precarious situations. In animal models, DLS are often linked to diverse and unpredictable stressors or adverse experiences. Theoretically, there are a range of potential fitness benefits associated with behavioural inhibition (typical to DLS), as opposed to more active/aggressive responses to adverse or uncontrollable events. This stance of evolutionary medicine has to our knowledge not been tested empirically. Here we address a possible key benefit of behavioural inhibition in a comparative model for social stress (territorial rainbow trout). By treating fish with the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine, we reversed the behavioural inhibition (i.e. stimulated an increase in activity level) in subordinate fish. During confrontation with a previously unfamiliar larger, aggressive and dominant individual, this increase in activity led to higher amounts of received aggression compared to sham-treated subordinates. This suggests that the behavioural inhibition characterizing animal models of DLS is indeed an effective coping strategy that reduces the risk of injuries in vulnerable social situations.

Language: en