Prior electric stimulation of the inferior colliculus sensitizes rats to the stress of the elevated plus maze.

PANDOSSIO, J.E.; MOLINA VICTOR ALEJANDRO; BRANDAO, M.L.

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2000 vol. 109 p. 19 - 19

esides its primary function in the transmission of acoustic signals, the inferior colliculus (IC) is involved in conveying auditory information of aversive nature to higher cortical structures. In the field of anxiety research, one widely used animal model is the electrical stimulation of a given structure supposed to be involved in the neural circuitry underlying emotional behavior. Indeed, electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus produces fear-like responses. Moreover, prior exposure to stressful events sensitizes rodents´ responsivity to fearful stimuli when they are subsequently tested in the elevated plus-maze. Based on these evidence it seems to be important to know whether animals stimulated in the inferior colliculus would show a heightened behavioral responsivity to subsequent stressful events. To this end, we examined the temporal course of the effects of the electrical stimulation of this midbrain region (5, 10 and 15 min afterward) on the conventional and ethologi