Low Dose Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Induces Anxiety-Like Behaviour and Alters Dendritic Morphology in the Basolateral Amygdala of Rat Offspring
Figure 2
Measures of anxiety-like behaviour, neophobia and hyperactivity in the Holeboard test.
n = 10 Control Male, 9 Control Female, 10 EtOH Male, 10 EtOH Female Adult rats and 15 Control Male, 15 Control Female, 12 EtOH Male and 12 EtOH Female Aged rats included in the analysis. Main effects as determined by 3-way ANOVA are indicated above each graph. a) Overall, prenatal ethanol treated rats (EtOH) spent significantly less time in the centre of the arena than Control animals indicating increased anxiety-like behaviour. Female animals spent more time in the centre of the arena than Male animals and Aged animals spent less time in the centre than Adult animals. b–c) Aged animals had reduced head dipping behaviour (number and duration) overall than Adult animals and Male animals had reduced head dipping behaviour than Female animals which may indicate an increase in neophobia in these animals. However an Age*Sex interaction was found for frequency and duration of head dipping and an Age*Sex*Trt interaction was found for the total number of head dips (b–c). Post hoc analysis of these interactions found Aged EtOH Males had significantly lower head dip frequency and duration than Aged Control Males (indicated by line and star). d)Aged animals travelled significantly less distance than Adult animals indicating increased activity levels in Adult animals.