Edwards, E., Harkins, K., Wright, G., Henn, F. (April 1990) Effects of bilateral adrenalectomy on the induction of learned helplessness behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology, 3 (2). pp. 109-14. ISSN 0893-133X (Print)0006-3223
Abstract
In the learned helplessness model of depression, naive Sprague-Dawley rats are exposed to a 40-minute uncontrollable shock training and are subsequently tested in a shock escape paradigm. "Helpless rats" exhibit 11 to 15 failures in a 15-trial test while "nonhelpless" rats and naive controls score 0 to 5 failures in the same test. We report on the effect of bilateral adrenalectomy on the induction of learned helplessness. Most of the adrenalectomized rats (70%) became helpless whereas sham controls responded to the training and testing similarly to naive nonoperated rats (20% to 30% helpless). This increase in behavioral deficits after adrenalectomy was reversed by administration of corticosterone, the naturally occurring glucocorticoid in rat. We conclude that secretion from the adrenal cortex is necessary for the incorporation of a learned response after stress and that a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis seems to be involved in helpless behavior.
| Item Type: | Paper |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | *Adrenalectomy Animals Corticosterone/pharmacology Depression Disease Models, Animal Electroshock Escape Reaction/drug effects *Helplessness, Learned Male Rats Rats, Inbred Strains |
| Subjects: | diseases & disorders > mental disorders > mood disorders > depression organism description > model organism |
| CSHL Authors: | |
| Communities: | CSHL labs > Henn lab |
| Depositing User: | Matt Covey |
| Date: | April 1990 |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jun 2014 16:24 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jun 2014 16:24 |
| URI: | https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/30235 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Administrator's edit/view item |