Abstract
behavior has been reported to be a response to novelty and other stressors. However, studies that sought to identify anxiety-related measures in the elevated plus-maze have not found grooming as a reliable index. Grooming has been implied with dearousal after a stressful experience.In the present work,a detailed investigation of this behavior was performed in a test with a longer duration (i.e., 10 min) than the usual duration in the elevated plus-maze. The level of anxiety was manipulated prior to the test by confining male rats to environments known to differ in the degree of aversive stimulation, including a familiar cage, a closed arm of the elevated plus-maze, and an open arm (i.e., the most aversive arm) of the elevated plus-maze. Grooming behavior was classified into three constituent elements: rostral grooming, head grooming, and body grooming. The groups were compared with regard to conventional measuresof the elevated plus-maze and grooming behavior. Prior confinement to an open arm led to a delayed effect of decreased open-arm exploration undetectable during the first half of the test compared with rats previously confined to a closed arm. Prior confinement to an open arm also increased the total duration of grooming during the second half of the test. These increases were found to be partially attributable to increases in the rostral element of grooming. The percentage of interrupted bouts was also found to discriminate the group previously confined to an open arm. These results indicate that prolongation of the session can reveal effects that are otherwise undetectable and that under such conditions some grooming measures can be useful in the evaluation of anxiety-like behavior. Keywords: elevated plus-maze, dearousal, anxiety, grooming behavior
Highlights
The elevated plus-maze is a widely used behavioral test for the study of anxiety in laboratory rodents (Pellow, Chopin, File, & Briley, 1985)
Despite its use in a great number of studies that have contributed to the understanding of anxiety in the past decades, the elevated plus-maze is a target for criticism because it does not produce consistent results with “novel compounds”
analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated no effect of prior confinement on the percentage of entries into and percentage of time spent on the open arms or entries into the closed arms
Summary
The elevated plus-maze is a widely used behavioral test for the study of anxiety in laboratory rodents (Pellow, Chopin, File, & Briley, 1985). Despite its use in a great number of studies that have contributed to the understanding of anxiety in the past decades, the elevated plus-maze is a target for criticism because it does not produce consistent results with “novel compounds” (i.e., those not related to γ-aminobutyric acid [GABA]/benzodiazepine or glutamate receptors; e.g., Borsini, Podhorna, & Marazziti, 2002). Grooming behavior has the essential function of caring for and protecting the surface of the body, but its occurrence can frequently be better explained by considering the context rather than the state of the skin or fur. This behavior can be induced by exposure to many stressors or central administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (for review, see Spruijt, van Hooff, & Gispen, 1992), highlighting its association with states of stress.
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