Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5735597 | Behavioural Brain Research | 2017 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
Anxiety as a common feature of several neurodegenerative/polyglutamine diseases is an important aspect for the face validity of an animal model for Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 17 (SCA17). Risk assessment and anxiety-like traits were characterised in 3-6-9 months old rats of a transgenic model for SCA17 using the standard behavioural test elevated plus maze. In addition, c-Fos immunostainings in the basolateral amygdala evaluated neuronal activation in correlation to the behavioural responses. The most prominent behavioural effect was a higher level of risk assessment in the transgenic rats. In addition, an increase in anxiety-related behaviour in these rats was found. Although the EPM caused no overall effect on c-Fos expression, a negative correlation with the anxiety-like behavioural response was observed. Our results suggest that the SCA17 rat model displays an anxious phenotype already at 3 months of age resembling the generalized anxiety in early symptomatic SCA17 patients, thus confirming the validity of this rat model.
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
Authors
Elisavet I. Kyriakou, Giuseppe Manfré, Jesús A. Spadaro, Huu Phuc Nguyen, Johanneke E.Van der Harst, Judith R. Homberg,