Behavioral consequences of predator stress in the rat elevated T-maze

• Cat exposure facilitates inhibitory avoidance acquisition in the T-maze.
• The anxiogenic effect induced by cat exposure is also detected in the plus-maze.
• Diazepam reduced the immediate avoidance response to the predator.
• Diazepam impaired avoidance acquisition in the T-maze.
• The T-maze can discriminate different types of fear/anxiety.

Analyses of the behavioral reactions of rodents to predators have greatly contributed to the understanding of defense-related human psychopathologies such as anxiety and panic. We here investigated the behavioral consequences of exposing male Wistar rats to a live cat using the elevated T-maze test of anxiety. This test allows the measurement of two defensive responses: inhibitory avoidance and escape, which in terms of pathology have been associated with generalized anxiety and panic disorders, respectively. For comparative reasons, the effects of exposure to the cat were also assessed in the elevated plus-maze. The results showed that a 5-min exposure to the cat selectively facilitated inhibitory avoidance acquisition, an anxiogenic effect, without affecting escape expression in the elevated T-maze. This was seen immediately but not 30 min after contact with the predator. This short-lived anxiogenic effect was also detected in the elevated plus-maze. Previous administration of the benzodiazepine anxiolytic diazepam (2 mg/kg) decreased the immediate avoidance response to the predator and the neophobic reaction to a dummy cat used as a control stimulus. The drug also impaired inhibitory avoidance acquisition in the elevated T-maze, indicating an anxiolytic effect, without affecting escape performance. The results indicate that the state of anxiety evoked during contact with the predator generalizes to both elevated plus- and T-mazes, impacting on defensive responses associated with generalized anxiety disorder.