Partner's stress status influences social buffering effects in rats.
The relationship between a social partner's stress status and the social buffering effect was examined in adult male Wistar rats. Fear-conditioned rats were exposed to the same context along with either a shocked or nonshocked conspecific partner. Changes in body temperature and behavioral responses were monitored in order to compare the effects of social buffering, and the Fos protein in the paraventricular nucleus was immunostained. The presence of the partner rat attenuated stress-induced hyperthermia, as well as behavioral responses and Fos expression in response to the fearful context, and nonshocked partners were more effective than shocked partners. These findings suggest that the social buffering effect depends on the stress status of the accompanying conspecific animal.
Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasushi
Y
Kiyokawa
Takefumi
T
Kikusui
Yukari
Y
Takeuchi
Yuji
Y
Mori
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004597:Electroshock / Q000009:adverse effects; D005239:Fear; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors
D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos