de Jong, Trynke R. and Beiderbeck, Daniela I. and Neumann, Inga D. (2014) Measuring Virgin Female Aggression in the Female Intruder Test (FIT): Effects of Oxytocin, Estrous Cycle, and Anxiety. PLOS ONE, 9 (3): e91701. ISSN 1932-6203,
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
The costs of violence and aggression in our society have stimulated the scientific search for the predictors and causes of aggression. The majority of studies have focused on males, which are considered to be more aggressive than females in most species. However, rates of offensive behavior in girls and young women are considerable and are currently rising in Western society. The extrapolation of scientific results from males to young, non-maternal females is a priori limited, based on the profound sex differences in brain areas and functioning of neurotransmitters involved in aggression. Therefore, we established a paradigm to assess aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats, i.e. the female intruder test (FIT). We found that approximately 40% of un-manipulated adult (10-11 weeks old) female Wistar rats attack an intruder female during the FIT, independent of their estrous phase or that of their intruder. In addition, adolescent (7-8 weeks old) female rats selected for high anxiety behavior (HABs) displayed significantly more aggression than non-selected (NAB) or low-anxiety (LAB) rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of oxytocin (OXT, 0.1 mu g/5 mu l) inhibited aggressive behavior in adult NAB and LAB, but not HAB females. Adolescent NAB rats that had been aggressive towards their intruder showed increased pERK immunoreactivity (IR) in the hypothalamic attack area and reduced pERK-IR in OXT neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus compared to non-aggressive NAB rats. Taken together, aggressive behavior in young virgin female rats is partly dependent on trait anxiety, and appears to be under considerable OXT control.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | C-FOS EXPRESSION; MATERNAL AGGRESSION; CONDUCT DISORDER; SYRIAN-HAMSTERS; SEX-DIFFERENCES; GENDER-DIFFERENCES; HUMAN BRAIN; HYPOTHALAMIC AGGRESSION; ARGININE-VASOPRESSIN; INTERMALE AGGRESSION; |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Tierphysiologie/Neurobiologie (Prof. Dr. Inga Neumann) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Nov 2019 09:11 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Nov 2019 09:11 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/10475 |
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