Effects of chlordiazepoxide on the emotional reactivity and motor capacities in the cerebellar Lurcher mutant mice.
It is now well accepted that besides its roles in motor control, the cerebellum is involved in non-motor functions with emotional aspects. Consistent with this view, several studies highlighted that the cerebellar Lurcher mutant mice (+/Lc), with motor impairments, also exhibited altered emotional reactivity, previously interpreted in term of behavioural disinhibition. In this study, we investigated the effects of a classical anxiolytic on such disinhibition. For that, behaviours of +/Lc and control (+/+) mice injected with NaCl or chlordiazepoxide (CDP 5 and 7.5mg/kg) were evaluated in the elevated plus-maze test. The motor impact of the drug (7.5mg/kg only) was also evaluated in the hole-board and unstable platform tests. Our results showed that, compared to the +/+ mice, CDP injection greatly influenced the anxious-related behaviours in the +/Lc mice by reducing their preference to the open areas in the elevated plus-maze test. Furthermore, we found that injection of CDP at the dose of 7.5mg/kg aggravated motor coordination deficit, altered motor learning capabilities in the mutants and provoked equilibrium disturbances in the non-mutant mice in the unstable platform test. These results indicated that CDP was able to reduce behavioural disinhibition in the cerebellar +/Lc mice and were discussed in term of implication of the cerebellar connections into CDP-sensitive neural circuitries involved in both emotional and motor processes.
Lorivel
Thomas
T
IFRMP 23, UPRES EA 1780, Equipe Neurobiologie de l'Apprentissage, Université de Rouen, Faculté des Sciences, 76821 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France. thomas.lorivel@etu.univ-rouen.fr
Hilber
Pascal
P
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002707:Chlordiazepoxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000188:drug therapy*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D002707:Chlordiazepoxide