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The effect of social hierarchy on anxiety-like behaviors in male rats
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Romina Baghinejad   , Maryam Fallahi , Ali Jaafari suha , Narges Hosseinmardi , Mahyar Janahmadi , Hossein Azizi |
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Abstract: (280 Views) |
Introduction: Social hierarchy is a common feature of most animal societies. Although it reduces conflict, increases energy efficiency and social stability, it may lead to chronic psycho-social stress as well as suppression of the immune system. Chronic psychosocial stress could alter neural functions in different brain areas and increase vulnerability to mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. So, we investigated the effect of social hierarchy on anxiety-like behaviors in male rats after the formation of dominance hierarchy.
Methods and Materials: Male rats were placed in threes in each cage in the 4–5 weeks after weaning. Social Dominance Tube Test was used to assess relative dominance rank between cage-mates across three consecutive weeks in five test trials after post-natal day 56 (weeks 9–11). Following establishment of dominance hierarchy on week fifteen, the open field test (15 minutes) and the elevated plus maze test (5 minutes) were conducted to examine anxiety-like behavior.
Results: Rats were divided into three ranks; dominant, middle-ranked and subordinate based on the average number of wins in the tube test. The overall results showed that the total distance traveled and also the time spent in the center of the open-field did not show a significant difference between the dominance ranks (One-Way ANOVA, P>0.05). In addition, no significant difference was observed between the groups in the elevated plus maze test in terms of the number of entries and the time spent in open and closed arms (One-Way ANOVA, P>0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, social hierarchy has no effect on anxiety-like behaviors in the examined time-point in male rats.
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| Keywords: Social Hierarchy, Tube test, Stress, Open Field, Elevated Plus Maze |
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Full-Text [PDF 319 kb]
(78 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
General
Received: 2023/12/19 | Accepted: 2023/08/23 | Published: 2023/08/23
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