Abstract
In a conflict test based on the rat's choice between an immediate punished reinforcer or a delayed nonpunished reinforcer, anxiolytic drugs increase the number of immediate punished reinforcers. In this study, two hypotheses were tested: first, during late proestrus or during midpregnancy, female rats will display an elevated amount of immediate punished reinforcers; second, ovariectomized rats will display an elevated amount of immediate punished reinforcers when they receive anxiolytic doses of neurosteroids. Thus, female rats ( n=15) were tested repeatedly during late proestrus, diestrus, and pregnancy in the aforementioned conflict task. They displayed an elevated amount of immediate punished reinforcers during late proestrus ( P<.05) and during the 14th ( P<.05) and 17th ( P<.05) days of pregnancy compared to diestrus or 3rd, 7th, or 20th days of pregnancy. Likewise, ovariectomized rats ( n=90) displayed an elevated amount of immediate punished reinforcers compared to control rats only when they received anxiolytic doses of progesterone (1.0–2.0 mg/kg, P<.05) or allopregnanolone (1.0–2.0 mg/kg, P<.05). In conclusion, female rats displayed reduced conflict behavior during late proestrus and pregnancy, or after received anxiolytic doses of neurosteroids.
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