Abstract

Effects of tactile stimulation and underwater trauma on the behavior of protein-malnourished rats in the elevated plus-maze test

Highlights

  • Protein or protein-calorie malnutrition imposed early in life is a well-known environmental factor that produces alterations in the brain

  • Malnourished animals submitted to experimental models of anxiety such as light-dark transition (Brioni & Orsingher, 1988; Santucci, Daud, Almeida, & De Oliveira, 1994), elevated plus-maze (EPM) (Almeida, De Oliveira, & Graeff, 1991; Almeida et al, 1994; Almeira, Tonkiss, & Galler, 1996b; Moreira, De Araújo, De Oliveira, & Almeida, 1997; Riul, Carvalho, Almeida, & De Oliveira, 1998) and elevated T-maze (Almeida, Tonkiss, & Galler, 1996a) presented behavioral changes suggestive of lower anxiety and/or higher impulsiveness

  • The exact way these two stressful situations interact to produce behavioral alterations in the EPM is not known, but it has been suggested that stressful experiences early in life can interfere with the management of stressful experiences later in adulthood (Almeida et al, 1998; Cabib, PuglisiAllegra, & D’Amato, 1993; Françolin-Silva & Almeida, 2004; Matthews & Robbins, 2003)

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Summary

Introduction

Protein or protein-calorie malnutrition imposed early in life is a well-known environmental factor that produces alterations in the brain. Previous studies (Almeida, Araújo, Moreira, Paiva, & De Oliveira, 1998; Françolin-Silva & Almeida, 2004) showed that anxiogenic or stressful procedures (shortterm social isolation or immobilization) differentially affected the behavior of well-nourished and malnourished animals when tested in the EPM. These data suggest that the emotional changes produced by early protein malnutrition possibly interact with emotional changes induced by social isolation or immobilization applied just before the test, resulting in differences in exploratory behavior in the EPM. The exact way these two stressful situations (early malnutrition and isolation/immobilization) interact to produce behavioral alterations in the EPM is not known, but it has been suggested that stressful experiences early in life can interfere with the management of stressful experiences later in adulthood (Almeida et al, 1998; Cabib, PuglisiAllegra, & D’Amato, 1993; Françolin-Silva & Almeida, 2004; Matthews & Robbins, 2003)

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