Subchronic effects of fluoxetine on conditioned suppression produced by a hot air blast.

Gabriela Souza Do Nascimento,Patrícia Caroline Madeira Monteiro,Marcus Bentes De Carvalho Neto,Amauri Gouveia

doi:10.3922/j.psns.2012.1.16

Gabriela Souza Do Nascimento, Patrícia Caroline Madeira Monteiro + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3922/j.psns.2012.1.16

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Journal: Psychology & neuroscience	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
Citations: 6	License type: cc-by

Abstract

Conditioned suppression is an animal model of anxiety disorders that has been broadly used to investigate the behavioral effects of different drugs. However, various methodological variables (e.g., the type of aversive stimulus) that supposedly interfere with the acquisition of conditioned suppression may also contribute to conflicting results among the studied drugs. Additionally, few studies have sought to investigate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The present study investigated the effect of subchronic 5-day administration of 5 mg/kg fluoxetine in the retention of conditioned suppression produced by a hot air blast (HAB). The subjects were 12 albino Wistar rats distributed into an Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). After sessions were conducted to pair two stimuli, a sound and HAB, fluoxetine (EG) or saline (CG) was administered. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, a test session was conducted. The results showed no difference between groups. Fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) did not exert anxiolytic effects in this model of conditioned suppression produced by a HAB.

Highlights

Conditioned suppression is a procedure developed by Estes and Skinner (1941/1961) to study basic processes related to anxiety
No significant difference in the mean suppression ratio in the conditioned suppression retention test was found between groups (t[5] = 1.2, p = .3), the ratio in the Control Group (CG) was higher (.7) than in the Experimental Group (EG) (.4)
No significant difference was found between the mean suppression ratio values between the CG and EG for each habituation-to-sound and pairingof-stimuli session

Summary

Introduction

Conditioned suppression is a procedure developed by Estes and Skinner (1941/1961) to study basic processes related to anxiety In this procedure, regardless of any response emitted by the subject, a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditional stimulus that is usually aversive. After several Pavlovian pairings, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned aversive stimulus that is able to elicit responses and indirectly suppress the operant response This effect was termed state of anxiety by Estes and Skinner and later called conditioned suppression. In this procedure, the effect of a drug is measured by the frequency of operant responding in the presence of the conditioned aversive stimulus (McNaughton & Zangrossi, 2008).

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