Title: | Acute and chronic effects of ferret odor exposure in Sprague-Dawley rats |
Author(s): | Campeau S; Nyhuis TJ; Sasse SK; Day HE; Masini CV; |
Address: | "Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States. serge.campeau@colorado.edu" |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.05.014 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 0149-7634 (Print) 0149-7634 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "This manuscript describes several behavioral and functional studies evaluating the capacity of ferret odors to elicit a number of acute and long-term responses in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Acute presentation elicits multiple responses, suggesting that ferret odor, likely from skin gland secretions, provides an anxiogenic-like stimulus in this strain of rats. Compared to cat odor, however, ferret odor did not produce rapid fear conditioning, a result perhaps attributable to methodological factors. Inactivation of the olfactory system and medial nucleus of the amygdala, combined with induction of the immediate-early gene c-fos, suggest the necessity of the accessory olfactory system in mediating the effects of ferret odor. Repeated exposures to ferret odor produce variable habituation of neuroendocrine and behavioral responses, perhaps indicative of the lack of control over the exact individual origin or concentration of ferret odor. Ferret odor induces rapid and long-term body weight regulation, thymic involution, adrenal hyperplasia and facilitation of the neuroendocrine response to additional challenges. It is argued that the use of such odors is exquisitely suited to investigate the brain regions coordinating anxiety-like responses and the long-term changes elicited by such stimuli" |
Keywords: | "Animals Autonomic Nervous System/drug effects/physiology Brain/drug effects/*physiology Fear/drug effects/*physiology Ferrets Odorants Olfactory Pathways/drug effects/*physiology Pheromones/*physiology Rats Rats, Sprague-Dawley Scent Glands Smell/*physiol;" |
Notes: | "MedlineCampeau, S Nyhuis, T J Sasse, S K Day, H E W Masini, C V eng K02 MH068016/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ K02 MH068016-05/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ R01 MH065327/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ R01 MH065327-05/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural 2008/06/25 Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008 Sep; 32(7):1277-86. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.05.014. Epub 2008 May 17" |