The so-called anxiolytic and anxiogenic drugs are considered to cause, respectively, increases and decreases in plus-maze open arm exploration, without modifying locomotor activity occurring in the closed arms in an elevated plus-maze when the animals are tested in an illuminated environment. Simply testing animals in the dark also increases open arm exploration, which may be interpreted as an ...

Anxiety and mood disorders have become very significant affections in the last decades. According to WHO at least one mental disease occurred per year in 27% of EU inhabitants (more than 82 mil. people). It is estimated that by 2020, depression will be the main cause of morbidity in the developed countries. These circumstances call for research for new prospective drugs with anxiolytic and anti...

Several maze shapes are used to test spatial navigation performance and behavioral phenotypes. Traditionally, each experiment requires a unique shape, thus requiring several separate mazes in different configurations. The geometry cannot be reconfigured single environment accommodate scalability reproducibility. reconfigurable is approach address the limitations, allowing quick flexible configu...

Central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is one of the most important regulatory centres for the emotional processes. Among the different neurotransmitter systems present in this nucleus, AT1 receptors have been also found, but their role in the generation and modulation of emotions is not fully understood. The present work evaluated the effect of intra-amygdalar injection of losartan (AT1 recepto...

OBJECTIVE Nandrolone decanoate (ND) is frequently used anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) among the athletes. Despite the health risks, there is significant increase in prevalence of AAS abuse. DESIGN The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic exposure to ND at supraphysiological dose (to mimic the doses for human AAS abusers) on anxiety levels in adult rats. SETTINGS We...

Palmitoyl acyl transferases (PATs) play a critical role in protein trafficking and function. Huntingtin interacting protein 14 (HIP14) is a PAT that acts on proteins associated with neuronal transmission, suggesting that deficient protein palmitoylation by HIP14, which occurs in the YAC128 model of Huntington's disease (HD), might have deleterious effects on neurobehavioral processing. HIP14 kn...

Albizzia julibrissin Durazz, a Chinese Medicine, is commonly used for its anti-anxiety effects. (-)-syringaresnol-4-O-β-d-apiofuranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucopyranoside (SAG) is the main ingredient of Albizzia julibrissin Durazz. The present study investigated the anxiolytic effect and potential mechanisms on the HPA axis and monoaminergic systems of SAG on acute restraint-stressed rats. The anxiolyti...

Perinatal asphyxia in mammals leads to iron accumulation in the brain, which results in delayed neurobehavioural disturbances, including impaired learning and abnormal alertness over their entire life span. The aim of this investigation was to verify our hypothesis that newborn rats, showing reduced normal body temperature, are protected against neurotoxicity of the asphyxia up to senescence. A...

The selection for large and small relative brain weight (RBW) in mice, started in 1999, resulted in stable significant differences in the trait (16%). The selection was discontinued at F22, and both lines (Large Brain, LB and Small brain, SB) were maintained by random mating. In F25-F28 the significant differences in RBW were still present in spite of the lack of selection. In F28 ethanol injec...

It has been reported that periodic maternal separation in rats leads to a variety of endure behavioral, neurochemical and microstructural sequelae associated with the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Since it has been proposed that these changes might be permanent, we examined whether environmental complexity aid to recover the structural dendritic impairment induced by neonatal maternal d...