Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-3-3
pubmed:abstractText
Recently, we reported that an alarm pheromone released from the perianal region of male rats aggravated stress-induced hyperthermia and increased defensive and risk assessment behaviors in recipient male rats. Based on these results, we hypothesized that the primary effect of the alarm pheromone is to increase anxiety; however, there is still no clear evidence for this pheromone effect. Therefore, we examined this issue by assessing the effect of the alarm pheromone on the acoustic startle reflex (ASR), which is a useful index for studying negative emotions such as anxiety in rats. The alarm pheromone enhanced the ASR for 105-dB auditory stimuli, but not for those of 90 and 120 dB, when these three intensities of sound were used randomly. The same results were obtained when one of these three intensities was used repeatedly. In addition, pretreatment with diazepam (i.p.) at doses of 0.7 and 2.0 mg/kg suppressed the ASR of the pheromone recipients, whereas the lower dose (0.2 mg/kg) slightly attenuated the pheromone effect and the control injection (vehicle) had no effect. These results indicate that the alarm pheromone enhances the ASR by increasing anxiety in recipient rats, suggesting that the primary effect of the alarm pheromone is to increase the anxiety level.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0031-9384
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
27
pubmed:volume
93
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
606-11
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Enhancement of the acoustic startle reflex by an alarm pheromone in male rats.
pubmed:affiliation
Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan. ahinaga@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp <ahinaga@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't