Clinical NeuroscienceResearch PaperDepression- and anxiety-like behaviors of a rat model with absence epileptic discharges
Section snippets
Animal preparations and recordings
Adult male Long-Evans and Wistar rats were used. Wistar rats were selected as an experimental control because they have been commonly used in previous studies (Sarkisova et al 2003, Jones et al 2008). All rats were kept in a sound-attenuated room under a 12-h light/dark cycle (07:00–19:00 h lights on) with food and water provided ad libitum. The experimental procedures were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. All experiments complied with NIH (USA)
Experiment 1 comparison under a natural condition
Spontaneous SWDs (Fig. 1) were found in 39 Long-Evans rats and prominently appeared in the frontoparietal region with a small extent in the occipital area. SWDs revealed a dominant oscillation frequency of 7–12 Hz accompanied by several harmonics. Average number (96.2±16.0), duration (3.26±0.52 s), and total duration (391.6±93.1 s) of SWDs in a 1-h period on two consecutive days were measured. No spontaneous SWD was found in 15 Wistar rats during the 2-day recordings.
OF test
Long-Evans rats revealed
Discussion
The major findings of this study are (1) Long-Evans rats displayed seizure frequency-dependent exacerbation in anxiety-like behavior that was ameliorated by ESM (2). Long-Evans rats revealed a depressive propensity that was reduced by ESM. No seizure frequency–related relationship was found in depression-like behavior (3). Distinct inter-strain responses were found in anxiety- and depression-like behavior. Compared to Wistar rats, Long-Evans rats showed low anxiety but high depression. ESM
Conclusion
Aberrant SWDs had distinct influences in anxiety- and depression-like behaviors of the rat. SWDs worsened anxiety-like behavior in Long-Evans rats in a seizure frequency-dependent manner while they showed low anxiety compared to Wistar rats. Long-Evans rats displayed high depressive behavior that was not related to SWD number. Our animal model may provide an alternative choice to elucidate the operation of anxiety- and depression-related networks. Indeed, spontaneous SWDs appear in a
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