Naslov
Male Wistar rats rapidly habituate to cat odour predator stress test for anxiety

Autori
Tvrdeić, Ante ; Poljak, Ljiljana ; Babacanli, Alen ; Miše, Branko

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
8th Croatian neuroscience congress : book of abstracts / - Zagreb, 2021, 54-54

Skup
8th Croatian neuroscience congress

Mjesto i datum
Online ; Zagreb, Hrvatska, 24.09.2021. - 26.09.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Domaća recenzija

Ključne riječi
predator odour stress test ; habituation ; rats

Sažetak
To investigate whether Wistar rats habituate to predator stress test based on cat odour, we assigned 12 Wistar male rats to the group exposed to cat bedding dirtied with cat excretions (cat odour) and to the group exposed to clear, unused cat bedding (false cat odour). Animals were tested in a square arena virtually divided by video tracking software in an unsafe, smaller zone containing a beaker filled with cat odour and a safe, large area with a cup filled with false cat odour. Individual rats could freely explore the arena for 10 minutes in habituation (it was empty), test (scants were in it) and retest session (same as test session). During the habituation session, we didn’t find differences between experimental groups in the behavioural data collected. But, during the test session, the number of contacts with the beakers and rearing decreased in the cat odour group, while the number of stretches increased in this group compared to the false cat odour group. Also, the number of entries and time spent in the unsafe zone declined, and the total distance travelled in the arena enlarged in rats exposed to cat odour compared to rats exposed to the false scent. Behavioural and locomotor differences described above vanish during the retest session. Stretch attending number was an exception. In rats exposed to cat odour, stretches still increased. Here we demonstrate that a predator stress test based on cat odour is functional in our hands and susceptible to one trial habituation.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Temeljne medicinske znanosti

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