Effects of stress on defensive aggression and dominance in a water competition test |
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Authors: | Aldo Lucion Wolfgang H Vogel |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Physiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rua Sarmento Leite 500, 90049, Pono Alegre, RS, Brazil 2. Department of Pharmacology and Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, 19107, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Abstract: | Water-deprived rats in a pair competing for a single source of water quickly establish a firm relationship during which one
rat drinks consistently more (dominant) than the other (submissive) animal. This relationship is formed during the first competition
and is very stable during subsequent tests. Exposure of dominant rats to a severe (18 hrs immobilization), but not a mild
(2 hrs immobilization), stressor reduced markedly aggressive behavior and inverted transiently the dominant submissive relationship
of the pairs. Exposure of submissive rats to the severe stressor resulted in only minor reductions of aggressive behavior
in these animals. Prestress anxiety predicted stress effects in the dominant animals in that high-anxious animals lost more
dominant behavior and weight during stress as compared with low-anxious rats. Thus, severe stress can transiently reduce dominant
but not submissive behavior during water competition and high-anxious rats are more prone to lose their aggressive behavior. |
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