Abstract
Behavioral deficits following inescapable stress (learned helplessness) may serve as an animal model of depression. Previous studies using foot-shock stress to induce learned helplessness and a bar-press test for the stress-induced behavioral deficit have found increased β-adrenergic receptor density in the hippocampus of learned helpless rats. We replicated these experiments using a tail-shock stress and the shuttle-box test. In our experiments, rats that developed learned helplessness after inescapable stress did not demonstrate any significant differences in β-adrenergic receptor density or affinity in the frontal cortex, cerebellum, or hippocampus compared to the nonhelpless rats, nor to the tested control rats. These results suggest that β-adrenergic receptor changes in learned helplessness may depend on the specific stress and test procedures used.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 553-556 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 2-3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 1995 |
Keywords
- Animal models
- Depression
- Learned helplessness
- Norepinephrine
- β-Adrenergic receptor
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Biological Psychiatry
- Behavioral Neuroscience