Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the main components of Cannabis sp., presents clinical and preclinical anxiolytic properties. Recent results using the marble-burying test (MBT) suggest that CBD can also induce anticompulsive-like effects. Meta-chloro-phenyl-piperazine (mCPP) is a nonspecific serotonergic agonist (acting mainly at 5HT1A, 5HT2C and 5HT1D receptors) reported to increase symptoms in OCD ...

Burying beetles Nicrophorus orbicollis exhibit facultative biparental care of young. To reproduce, a male-female burying beetle pair bury and prepare a small vertebrate carcass as food for its altricial young. During a breeding bout, male and female behavior changes synchronously at appropriate times and is coordinated to provide effective care for offspring. Although the ecological and evoluti...

This study examined localization of positive versus negative motivational functions mediated by GABA circuits within the accumbens shell. Microinjections of a GABA(A) agonist (0, 25, 75, and 225 ng/0.5 microl muscimol) in rostral shell sites elicited appetitive increases in eating behavior. In contrast, microinjections in caudal shell sites elicited defensive burying or paw-treading behavior. R...

The effect of fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor, was studied in a model of anxiety and/or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in mice. In the anxiety/OCD model, marble-burying behavior, marble-burying was significantly suppressed by fluvoxamine at 30 and 60 mg/kg, p.o. and the monoamine reuptake inhibitor clomipramine, at 60 mg/kg, p.o. No suppressive effect, however,...

Burying beetles conceal small vertebrate carcasses underground and prepare them for consumption by their young. This review places their complex social behavior in an ecological context that focuses on the evolution of biparental care and communal breeding. Both males and females provide extensive parental care, and the major benefit of male assistance is to help defend the brood and carcass fr...

Repetitive behaviors with restricted interests is one of the core criteria for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Current pharmacotherapies that target the dopaminergic or serotonergic systems have limited effectiveness in treating repetitive behaviors. Previous research has demonstrated that administration of muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR) antagonists can exacerbate moto...

The role of lateral septal vasopressin (VP) in the modulation of spatial memory, social memory, and anxiety-related behavior was studied in adult, male Wistar rats. Animals were equipped with osmotic minipumps delivering the VP-antagonist d(CH2)5-D-Tyr(Et)VAVP (1 ng/0.5 microl per h) bilaterally into the lateral septum (LS). Subsequently, all rats were subjected to four behavioral tests. First,...

Memory-enhancement effects of norepinephrine (NE) were investigated by infusing NE into the central amygdala (CEA) of Roman high-avoidance (RHA) and low-avoidance (RLA) rats after training on active and passive behaviors in the defensive-burying paradigm. During acquisition, both lines spent comparable time in burying behavior. RLA rats, but not RHA rats, also displayed substantial immobility. ...

Rats shocked by a wire-wrapped prod mounted on the wall of the experimental chamber buried the prod with available bedding material when they were tested 24 hr later. Injection of the neuroleptic, pimozide (1.0 mg/kg) before conditioning and again before testing disrupted this conditioned defensive burying; however, a concomitant reduction in general activity suggested that this deficit in cond...