title: Acute restraint stress and corticosterone transiently disrupts novelty preference in an object recognition task.
abstract: The object recognition task is a procedure based on rodents' natural tendency to explore novel objects which is frequently used for memory testing. However, in some instances novelty preference is replaced by familiarity preference, raising questions regarding the validity of novelty preference as a pure recognition memory index. Acute stress- and corticosterone administration-induced novel object preference disruption has been frequently interpreted as memory impairment; however, it is still not clear whether such effect can be actually attributed to either mnemonic disruption or altered novelty seeking. Seventy-five adult male Wistar rats were trained in an object recognition task and subjected to either acute stress or corticosterone administration to evaluate the effect of stress or corticosterone on an object recognition task. Acute stress was induced by restraining movement for 1 or 4h, ending 30 min before the sample trial. Corticosterone was injected intraperitoneally 10 min before the test trial which was performed either 1 or 24h after the sample trial. Four-hour, but not 1-h, stress induced familiar object preference during the test trial performed 1h after the sample trial; however, acute stress had no effects on the test when performed 24h after sample trial. Systemic administration of corticosterone before the test trial performed either 1 or 24h after the sample trial also resulted in familiar object preference. However, neither acute stress nor corticosterone induced changes in locomotor behaviour. Taken together, such results suggested that acute stress probably does not induce memory retrieval impairment but, instead, induces an emotional arousing state which motivates novelty avoidance.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Neurophysiology Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Physiological Sciences Department, School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vargas-López
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Neurophysiology Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Psychology Department, School of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres-Berrio
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Neurophysiology Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Psychology Department, School of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Neurophysiology Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Physiological Sciences Department, School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Múnera
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Neurophysiology Laboratory, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Psychology Department, School of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: mlamprear@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Marisol R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lamprea
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006728:Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011897:Random Allocation; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: Acute stress; Corticosterone; Memory retrieval; Novelty; Object recognition task; Rat