Distance from source of reward as a marker for extinction-induced “despair”: Modulation by the antidepressants clomipramine and citalopram

Despair-related withdrawal behaviors are common symptoms of major depression (MD) and can be ascribed to a loss or absence of former rewarding events. Extinction of negatively reinforced escape behavior in the Morris Water Maze has been shown to induce despair-like behavior. A new animal model of depressive-like behavior is based on the extinction of positively reinforced behavior, which was shown to induce spatial avoidance of the former source of reward and biting of the operandum. Treatment with antidepressants attenuated these extinction-induced behaviors, suggesting that they reflect a depressive-like state. Here we present a methodological variation of this depression model. We employed an elongated operant chamber rather than a two-compartment procedure with the intent to establish a flowing gradient of withdrawal from the source of reward, rather than an all-or-none binary measure. Furthermore, instead of employing extinction of lever-pressing behavior, we applied a cued fixed-time food-delivery schedule. Sixty adult male Wistar rats (n = 12/group) were trained to receive a food reward after appearance of a cue-light (fixed interval 90 s) in an elongated Skinner-box of 72 cm length. Prior to extinction, the animals were treated for 9 days with either 7.5 or 10 mg/kg of the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine, 7.5 or 10 mg/kg of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram or vehicle. Subsequent testing in an open field was carried out to investigate potential effects of the antidepressants on locomotor- and anxiety-like behavior. An overall increase in distance from the feeder and biting behavior was found over the course of the extinction trials. Both, citalopram and clomipramine decreased the distance from the pellet feeder during the initial extinction trials compared to the vehicle-treated group. The attenuation of withdrawal behavior by the antidepressants supports the hypothesis that avoidance/withdrawal behavior during extinction trials can serve as a marker for extinction-induced depression and suggests the utility of this paradigm as a rodent model of depression.

► Extinction of cued food reward increases the distance from the source of reward.
► Chronic treatment with two antidepressants attenuates withdrawal during extinction.
► Extinction significantly influences biting behavior, goal- and sign-tracking.
► Withholding of cued reward is a paradigm to model extinction-induced depression.