TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive and locomotor/exploratory behavior after chronic exercise in the olfactory bulbectomy animal model of depression
AU - Van Hoomissen, Jacqueline
AU - Kunrath, Julie
AU - Dentlinger, Renee
AU - Lafrenz, Andrew
AU - Krause, Mark
AU - Azar, Afaf
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2011/9/12
Y1 - 2011/9/12
N2 - Despite the evidence that exercise improves cognitive behavior in animal models, little is known about these beneficial effects in animal models of pathology. We examined the effects of activity wheel (AW) running on contextual fear conditioning (CFC) and locomotor/exploratory behavior in the olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) model of depression, which is characterized by hyperactivity and changes in cognitive function. Twenty-four hours after the conditioning session of the CFC protocol, the animals were tested for the conditioned response in a conditioned and a novel context to test for the effects of both AW and OBX on CFC, but also the context specificity of the effect. OBX reduced overall AW running behavior throughout the experiment, but increased locomotor/exploratory behavior during CFC, thus demonstrating a context-dependent effect. OBX animals, however, displayed normal CFC behavior that was context-specific, indicating that aversively conditioned memory is preserved in this model. AW running increased freezing behavior during the testing session of the CFC protocol in the control animals but only in the conditioned context, supporting the hypothesis that AW running improves cognitive function in a context-specific manner that does not generalize to an animal model of pathology. Blood corticosterone levels were increased in all animals at the conclusion of the testing sessions, but levels were higher in AW compared to sedentary groups indicating an effect of exercise on neuroendocrine function. Given the differential results of AW running on behavior and neuroendocrine function after OBX, further exploration of the beneficial effects of exercise in animal models of neuropathology is warranted.
AB - Despite the evidence that exercise improves cognitive behavior in animal models, little is known about these beneficial effects in animal models of pathology. We examined the effects of activity wheel (AW) running on contextual fear conditioning (CFC) and locomotor/exploratory behavior in the olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) model of depression, which is characterized by hyperactivity and changes in cognitive function. Twenty-four hours after the conditioning session of the CFC protocol, the animals were tested for the conditioned response in a conditioned and a novel context to test for the effects of both AW and OBX on CFC, but also the context specificity of the effect. OBX reduced overall AW running behavior throughout the experiment, but increased locomotor/exploratory behavior during CFC, thus demonstrating a context-dependent effect. OBX animals, however, displayed normal CFC behavior that was context-specific, indicating that aversively conditioned memory is preserved in this model. AW running increased freezing behavior during the testing session of the CFC protocol in the control animals but only in the conditioned context, supporting the hypothesis that AW running improves cognitive function in a context-specific manner that does not generalize to an animal model of pathology. Blood corticosterone levels were increased in all animals at the conclusion of the testing sessions, but levels were higher in AW compared to sedentary groups indicating an effect of exercise on neuroendocrine function. Given the differential results of AW running on behavior and neuroendocrine function after OBX, further exploration of the beneficial effects of exercise in animal models of neuropathology is warranted.
KW - Corticosterone
KW - Exercise
KW - Exploratory behavior
KW - Learning
KW - Olfactory bulbectomy
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953889198&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.017
DO - 10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 21419804
AN - SCOPUS:79953889198
SN - 0166-4328
VL - 222
SP - 106
EP - 116
JO - Behavioural Brain Research
JF - Behavioural Brain Research
IS - 1
ER -