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Popović N, Baño-Otalora B, Rol MÁ, Venero C, Madrid JA, Popović M. Effects of long-term individual housing of middle-aged female Octodon degus on spatial learning and memory in the Barnes maze task. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1221090. [PMID: 37600762 PMCID: PMC10435294 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1221090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Prolonged social isolation is a form of passive chronic stress that has consequences on human and animal behavior. The present study was undertaken to elucidate whether the long-term isolation would precipitate age-related changes in anxiety and spatial learning and memory in degus. Methods We investigated the effects of long-term social isolation on anxiety levels in the light-dark test, and spatial orientation abilities in the Barnes maze. Middle-aged female Octodon degus were allocated to either group-housed (3 animals per cage) or individually-housed for 5 months. Results Under this experimental condition, there were no significant group differences in the anxiety level tested in the light-dark test and in the motivation to escape from the Barnes maze. There were no significant differences in cortisol levels between individually- and group-housed animals. On the last acquisition training day of spatial learning, individually- housed animals had a significantly higher number of correct responses and a smaller number of reference and working memory errors than the group-housed animals. In addition, isolated animals showed a tendency for reference and working memory impairment on the retention trial, while group-housed degus showed improvement in these parameters. Discussion and conclusion The present study indicates that prolonged social isolation during adulthood in female degus has a dual effect on spatial orientation. Specifically, it results in a significant improvement in acquisition skills but a slight impairment in memory retention. The obtained cognitive changes were not accompanied by modification in anxiety and cortisol levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalija Popović
- Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia, Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Beatriz Baño-Otalora
- Chronobiology Lab, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Mare Nostrum Campus, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Envejecimiento, Murcia, Spain
| | - María Ángeles Rol
- Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia, Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Chronobiology Lab, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Mare Nostrum Campus, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Envejecimiento, Murcia, Spain
- Ciber Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable, Madrid, Spain
| | - César Venero
- Department of Psychobiology, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Mixto de Investigación–Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Antonio Madrid
- Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia, Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Chronobiology Lab, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, Mare Nostrum Campus, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Envejecimiento, Murcia, Spain
- Ciber Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miroljub Popović
- Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
- Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia, Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
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Davis SED, Sansone JM, Hurley LM. Postweaning Isolation Alters the Responses of Auditory Neurons to Serotonergic Modulation. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:302-315. [PMID: 33974061 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Juvenile social experience, such as social isolation, has profound effects on communicative behavior, including signal production and reception. In the current study, we explored responsiveness to the neuromodulator serotonin as a potential mechanistic link between early life social isolation and auditory processing. The serotonergic system is sensitive to social isolation in many brain regions including the inferior colliculus (IC), an auditory midbrain nucleus. We investigated the effects of social experience on serotonergic responsiveness by measuring cFos, an immediate early gene product, in the IC of female mice. Serotonin was manipulated pharmacologically by administering fenfluramine, pCPA, or saline to mice that had undergone an extreme dichotomy in social experience after weaning: being housed in social groups versus individually. These mice were exposed to a 60-min recording of vocalizations from an opposite-sex interaction and perfused. Using immunohistochemistry, we measured the density of cFos-positive (cFos+) nuclei in the major subdivisions of the IC. Housing condition, drug treatment, and IC subregion all had a significant effect on cFos+ density. The central IC showed the highest density of cFos+ cells and also the most pronounced effects of housing condition and drug treatment. In the central IC, cFos+ density was higher following fenfluramine treatment than saline, and lower following pCPA treatment than fenfluramine. Individually housed mice showed a higher cFos+ density than socially housed mice in both of the pharmacological treatment groups, but not in the saline group. Drug treatment but not housing condition had strong effects on the behaviors of grooming, digging, rearing, and movement. Once the effects of drug condition were controlled, there were no across-individual correlations between cFos+ densities and behaviors. These findings suggest that the responses of auditory neurons to neuromodulation by serotonin are influenced by early life experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E D Davis
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA
| | - Jack M Sansone
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA
| | - Laura M Hurley
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA.,Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, 409 N Park Ave, Bloomington, IN 47408, USA
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3
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Cisternas P, Zolezzi JM, Lindsay C, Rivera DS, Martinez A, Bozinovic F, Inestrosa NC. New Insights into the Spontaneous Human Alzheimer's Disease-Like Model Octodon degus: Unraveling Amyloid-β Peptide Aggregation and Age-Related Amyloid Pathology. J Alzheimers Dis 2019; 66:1145-1163. [PMID: 30412496 DOI: 10.3233/jad-180729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia worldwide. Despite advances in our understanding of the molecular milieu driving AD pathophysiology, no effective therapy is currently available. Moreover, various clinical trials have continued to fail, suggesting that our approach to AD must be revised. Accordingly, the development and validation of new models are highly desirable. Over the last decade, we have been working with Octodon degus (degu), a Chilean rodent, which spontaneously develops AD-like neuropathology, including increased amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates, tau hyperphosphorylation, and postsynaptic dysfunction. However, for proper validation of degu as an AD model, the aggregation properties of its Aβ peptide must be analyzed. Thus, in this study, we examined the capacity of the degu Aβ peptide to aggregate in vitro. Then, we analyzed the age-dependent variation in soluble Aβ levels in the hippocampus and cortex of third- to fifth-generation captive-born degu. We also assessed the appearance and spatial distribution of amyloid plaques in O. degus and compared them with the plaques in two AD transgenic mouse models. In agreement with our previous studies, degu Aβ was able to aggregate, forming fibrillar species in vitro. Furthermore, amyloid plaques appeared in the anterior brain structures of O. degus at approximately 32 months of age and in the whole brain at 56 months, along with concomitant increases in Aβ levels and the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, indicating that O. degus spontaneously develops AD-like pathology earlier than other spontaneous models. Based on these results, we can confirm that O. degus constitutes a valuable model to improve AD research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Cisternas
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan M Zolezzi
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carolina Lindsay
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Daniela S Rivera
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro de Ecología Aplicada y Sustentabilidad (CAPES), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alexis Martinez
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco Bozinovic
- Centro de Ecología Aplicada y Sustentabilidad (CAPES), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro UC-Síndrome de Down, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nibaldo C Inestrosa
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.,Centro de Excelencia en Biomedicina de Magallanes (CEBIMA), Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
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Novick AM, Levandowski ML, Laumann LE, Philip NS, Price LH, Tyrka AR. The effects of early life stress on reward processing. J Psychiatr Res 2018; 101:80-103. [PMID: 29567510 PMCID: PMC5889741 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 116] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2017] [Revised: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Early life stress (ELS), in the form of childhood maltreatment, abuse, or neglect, increases the risk for psychiatric sequelae later in life. The neurobiology of response to early stress and of reward processing overlap substantially, leading to the prediction that reward processing may be a primary mediator of the effects of early life stress. We describe a growing body of literature investigating the effects of early life stressors on reward processing in animals and humans. Despite variation in the reviewed studies, an emerging pattern of results indicates that ELS results in deficits of ventral striatum-related functions of reward responsiveness and approach motivation, especially when the stressor is experienced in early in development. For stressors experienced later in the juvenile period and adolescence, the animal literature suggests an opposite effect, in which ELS results in increased hedonic drive. Future research in this area will help elucidate the transdiagnostic impact of early life stress, and therefore potentially identify and intervene with at-risk youth, prior to the emergence of clinical psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M. Novick
- Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA,Corresponding author: Andrew M Novick, MD PhD, Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd, Providence, RI 02906, USA,
| | - Mateus L. Levandowski
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL), Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Laura E. Laumann
- Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Noah S. Philip
- Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA,Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence VA, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Lawrence H. Price
- Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Audrey R. Tyrka
- Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical and Translational Neuroscience, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
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Colonnello V, Petrocchi N, Farinelli M, Ottaviani C. Positive Social Interactions in a Lifespan Perspective with a Focus on Opioidergic and Oxytocinergic Systems: Implications for Neuroprotection. Curr Neuropharmacol 2018; 15:543-561. [PMID: 27538784 PMCID: PMC5543675 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x14666160816120209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2015] [Revised: 03/05/2016] [Accepted: 08/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, a growing interest has emerged in the beneficial effects of positive social interactions on health. The present work aims to review animal and human studies linking social interactions and health throughout the lifespan, with a focus on current knowledge of the possible mediating role of opioids and oxytocin. During the prenatal period, a positive social environment contributes to regulating maternal stress response and protecting the fetus from exposure to maternal active glucocorticoids. Throughout development, positive social contact with the caregiver acts as a “hidden regulator” and promotes infant neuroaffective development. Postnatal social neuroprotection interventions involving caregiver–infant physical contact seem to be crucial for rescuing preterm infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Attachment figures and friendships in adulthood continue to have a protective role for health and brain functioning, counteracting brain aging. In humans, implementation of meditative practices that promote compassionate motivation and prosocial behavior appears beneficial for health in adolescents and adults. Human and animal studies suggest the oxytocinergic and opioidergic systems are important mediators of the effects of social interactions. However, most of the studies focus on a specific phase of life (i.e., adulthood). Future studies should focus on the role of opioids and oxytocin in positive social interactions adopting a lifespan perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Colonnello
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna. Italy
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Rivera DS, Lindsay C, Codocedo JF, Morel I, Pinto C, Cisternas P, Bozinovic F, Inestrosa N. Andrographolide recovers cognitive impairment in a natural model of Alzheimer's disease (Octodon degus). Neurobiol Aging 2016; 46:204-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2016.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2016] [Revised: 06/05/2016] [Accepted: 06/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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7
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Ashkenazy-Frolinger T, Einat H, Kronfeld-Schor N. Diurnal rodents as an advantageous model for affective disorders: novel data from diurnal degu (Octodon degus). J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2013; 122 Suppl 1:S35-45. [PMID: 24352409 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-013-1137-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2013] [Accepted: 12/06/2013] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Circadian rhythms are strongly associated with affective disorders and recent studies have suggested utilization of diurnal rodents as model animal for circadian rhythms-related domains of these disorders. Previous work with the diurnal fat sand rat and Nile grass rat demonstrated that short photoperiod conditions result in behavioral changes including anxiety- and depression-like behavior. The present study examined the effect of manipulating day length on activity rhythms and behavior of the diurnal degu. Animals were housed for 3 weeks under either a short photoperiod (5-h:19-h LD) or a neutral photoperiod (12-h:12-h LD) and then evaluated by sweet solution test and the forced swim test for depression-like behavior, and in the light/dark box and open field for anxiety-like behavior. Results indicate that short photoperiod induced depression-like behavior in the forced swim test and the sweet solution preference test and anxiety-like behavior in the open field compared with animals maintained in a neutral photoperiod. No effects were shown in the light/dark box. Short photoperiod-acclimated degu showed reduced total activity duration and activity was not restricted to the light phase. The present study further supports the utilization of diurnal rodents to model circadian rhythms-related affective change. Beyond the possible diversity in the mechanisms underlying diurnality in different animals, there are now evidences that in three different diurnal species, the fat sand rat, the grass Nile rat and the degu, shortening of photoperiod results in the appearance of anxiety- and depression-like behaviors.
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8
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Hall FS, Perona MTG. Have studies of the developmental regulation of behavioral phenotypes revealed the mechanisms of gene-environment interactions? Physiol Behav 2012; 107:623-40. [PMID: 22643448 PMCID: PMC3447116 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2012] [Revised: 05/15/2012] [Accepted: 05/15/2012] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
This review addresses the recent convergence of our long-standing knowledge of the regulation of behavioral phenotypes by developmental experience with recent advances in our understanding of mechanisms regulating gene expression. This review supports a particular perspective on the developmental regulation of behavioral phenotypes: That the role of common developmental experiences (e.g. maternal interactions, peer interactions, exposure to a complex environment, etc.) is to fit individuals to the circumstances of their lives within bounds determined by long-standing (evolutionary) mechanisms that have shaped responses to critical and fundamental types of experience via those aspects of gene structure that regulate gene expression. The phenotype of a given species is not absolute for a given genotype but rather variable within bounds that is determined by mechanisms regulated by experience (e.g. epigenetic mechanisms). This phenotypic variation is not necessarily random, or evenly distributed along a continuum of description or measurement, but often highly disjointed, producing distinct, even opposing, phenotypes. The potentiality for these varying phenotypes is itself the product of evolution, the potential for alternative phenotypes itself conveying evolutionary advantage. Examples of such phenotypic variation, resulting from environmental or experiential influences, have a long history of study in neurobiology, and a number of these will be discussed in this review: neurodevelopmental experiences that produce phenotypic variation in visual perception, cognitive function, and emotional behavior. Although other examples will be discussed, particular emphasis will be made on the role of social behavior on neurodevelopment and phenotypic determination. It will be argued that an important purpose of some aspects of social behavior is regulation of neurobehavioral phenotypes by experience via genetic regulatory mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Scott Hall
- Molecular Neurobiology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 333 Cassel Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, United States.
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Hong S, Flashner B, Chiu M, ver Hoeve E, Luz S, Bhatnagar S. Social isolation in adolescence alters behaviors in the forced swim and sucrose preference tests in female but not in male rats. Physiol Behav 2011; 105:269-75. [PMID: 21907226 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.08.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2011] [Revised: 08/11/2011] [Accepted: 08/29/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Social interactions in rodents are rewarding and motivating and social isolation is aversive. Accumulating evidence suggests that disruption of the social environment in adolescence has long-term effects on social interactions, on anxiety-like behavior and on stress reactivity. In previous work we showed that adolescent isolation produced increased reactivity to acute and to repeated stress in female rats, whereas lower corticosterone responses to acute stress and decreased anxiety-related behavior were noted in isolated males. These results indicate a sex specific impact on the effects of social stress in adolescence. However, little is known about whether social isolation impacts behaviors related to affect and whether it does so differently in male and female rats. The present study investigated the impact of adolescent social isolation from day 30-50 of age in male and female Sprague Dawley rats on behavior in the forced swim test at the end of adolescence and in adulthood and on behavior in the sucrose preference test in adulthood. Adult female rats that were isolated in adolescence exhibited increased climbing on the first and second day of the forced swim test and showed an increased preference for sucrose compared to adult females that were group-housed in adolescence. There were no effects in male rats. The results indicate that social isolation in adolescence produces a stable and active behavioral phenotype in adult female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzie Hong
- Department of Anesthesiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, United States
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Colonnello V, Iacobucci P, Fuchs T, Newberry RC, Panksepp J. Octodon degus. A useful animal model for social-affective neuroscience research: basic description of separation distress, social attachments and play. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011; 35:1854-63. [PMID: 21477615 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2010] [Revised: 03/16/2011] [Accepted: 03/25/2011] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A challenge for social-affective neuroscience programs is to identify simple and yet valid animal models for studying the expression of basic social emotions and their role during different developmental windows, from infancy to adulthood. For example, although laboratory rats are useful for studying juvenile social interactions, they are not ideal for studying infant attachment bonds. Here, we evaluate current understanding of the social behavior of Octodon degus, a diurnal precocial rodent, to elucidate the value of this species as a model for social-affective neuroscience research. After a synopsis of species-specific characteristics and brain susceptibility to changes of social environment, our behavioral findings on degu social proclivities are summarized. We then discuss why this pre-clinical model provides a valuable addition to the commonly available animal models for the study of human psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Colonnello
- Center for the Study of Animal Well-being, Department of Veterinary & Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6520, USA.
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