Correlation between autonomic function and anxiety-related behavior in mice

DEPINO AM; GROSS C

Washington DC, Estados Unidos

Congreso; 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience; 2005

Society for Neuroscience

In humans, anxiety is often accompanied by changes in autonomic nervous system function, including tachycardia and elevated body temperature. In particular, low heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with specific anxiety disorders both under basal conditions and in anxiogenic situations. We hypothesized that changes in anxiety-related behavior in mice would similarly be associated with altered autonomic function. The inclusion of autonomic measures in the assessment of mouse models of anxiety-related behavior could significantly strengthen their validity. To test this hypothesis we assessed autonomic function in two genetic models of altered anxiety-related behavior, Balb/c vs. C57BL/6 mice and 5HT1AR knockout vs. wild-type mice. Measurements of locomotor activity, body temperature and heart rate were acquired using chronically implanted telemetry devices in mice during the performance of anxiety-related behavioral tasks, including novel cage, open-field, free exploration and novelty suppressed feeding. Time domain analysis was performed to extract HRV information. The results of this work have important implications both for the phenotyping of anxiety-related mouse models and for the understanding of autonomic alterations in anxiety disorders in humans.