| Literature DB >> 33192372 |
Bryan P Schuessler1, Peter R Zambetti1, Kisho M Kukuoka1, Eun Joo Kim1, Jeansok J Kim1,2.
Abstract
Basic research of fear and anxiety in rodents has historically utilized a limited set of behavioral paradigms, for example, Pavlovian (classical) fear conditioning, the elevated plus-maze, or inhibitory (passive) avoidance. These traditional paradigms measure a limited selection of variables over a short duration, providing only a "snapshot" of fear and anxiety-related behavior. Overreliance on these paradigms and such behavioral snapshots ultimately lead to a narrow understanding of these complex motivational states. Here, we elaborate on the closed economy; a seldom-used paradigm that has been modified to comprehensively study fear and anxiety-related behavior and neurocircuitry in rodents. In this modified "Risky Closed Economy (RCE)" paradigm, animals live nearly uninterrupted in behavioral chambers where the need to acquire food and water and avoid threat is integrated into the task. Briefly, animals are free to acquire all of their food and water in a designated foraging zone. An unsignaled, unpredictable threat (footshock) is introduced into the foraging zone after a baseline activity and consumption period to model the risk of predation, which is then removed for a final extinction assessment. This longitudinal design, wherein data from a multitude of variables are collected automatically and continuously for 23 h/day over several weeks to months, affords a more holistic understanding of the effects of fear and anxiety on day-to-day behavior. Also, we discuss its general benefits relevant to other topics in neuroscience research, its limitations, and present data demonstrating for the first time The Risky Closed Economy's viability in mice.Entities:
Keywords: anxiety; decision-making; ethology; fear; methods
Year: 2020 PMID: 33192372 PMCID: PMC7645110 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.594568
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Behav Neurosci ISSN: 1662-5153 Impact factor: 3.558
Figure 1Traditional closed economy concepts and The Risky Closed Economy (RCE). (A) In “closed economies,” food and/or water is not supplemented after testing; animals must earn all of their food and/or water during the testing session, reflecting naturalistic conditions. Closed economy experiments also typically utilize long testing periods. This contrasts with “open economies” where food is supplemented (e.g., food restriction) after brief tests. (B) The use of chained schedules of reinforcement in closed economy experiments (e.g., fixed ratio-continuous reinforcement) allows for discrete eating bouts (“meals”) and the number of pellets per eating bout (“meal size”) to be measured. Under optimal experimental parameters, closed economy animals characteristically decrease the frequency of meals and increase meal size in response to increasing food procurement costs. (C) In the RCE, pseudo-random footshock is integrated into a longitudinal closed economy framework as a means to model naturalistic risky foraging with predation threat. Use of an unsignaled (no cue) or signaled (cued) shock allows one to investigate the effects of diffuse, anxiety-evoking, or imminent, fear-evoking threat, respectively, on circadian and infradian behavior. Red arrow thickness and quantity of red plus signs represent the impact of shock condition on the listed behavioral variables under optimal experimental parameters (i.e., from rat studies mentioned in the text). Darting: sudden activity bursts exceeding 23.6 cm/s.
Advantages of the Risky Closed Economy (RCE) paradigm relative to traditional fear and anxiety paradigms, such as Pavlovian (classical) fear conditioning, the elevated plus-maze, and inhibitory (passive) avoidance paradigms.
| The Risky Closed Economy | Traditional fear/Anxiety paradigms |
|---|---|
| Longitudinal; 23 h/day data collection for several weeks. | Brief tests offering only “snapshots” of behavior. |
| A multitude of behavioral variables (holistic approach). | Few behavioral variables (hyper-focused approach). |
| Naturalistic. A risky-foraging scenario requiring effort and decision-making; the need to acquire food and water while avoiding unpredictable threats is integrated into the animals’ lives. The ethologically-relevant, goal-oriented (purposive) task facilitates the interpretation of behavior. | Less naturalistic. Food and water are provided and/or restricted by the experimenter. Small chambers and short test duration constrain the animals’ behavioral repertoire. |
| Minimal experimenter interaction. | Increased experimenter interaction (handling, feeding, and frequent transport). |
Figure 2Mice are a viable alternative to rats in RCE experiments. (A) Upon arrival, animals were immediately housed in RCE Chambers distributed between two rooms (four chambers/room). Mice were then shaped to lever press for food at a fixed ratio 25-continuous chained schedule of reinforcement (FR25-CRF), wherein each press beginning at FR25 results in one pellet/press. The schedule resets after 1 min of lever inactivity. A “meal” occurs when the FR threshold is met and continues until the scheduled reset. Shaping begins at FR1 and doubles every 2 days until FR25 (except FR16 transitions to FR25). Baseline foraging and activity level assessment follow until 7 days of stable behavior are obtained. Unsignaled, pseudo-random (~2/h) footshocks (0.5 mA, 10 s or until escape to Nest Zone; 48 shocks/day max) are introduced in the Foraging Zone for a 2-week Shock phase. Finally, shocks are terminated for a 2-week Extinction phase. (B–G) shows the daily average (black line) with individual mouse data (gray lines; top) and weekly average ± SEM (bottom) for daily total time spent (minutes) in the Foraging Zone (B), meal frequency (or the number of meals/day; C), food pellets consumed (D), water lick meter beam breaks (E), meal size (food pellets/meal; F), and animal weight (grams; G) of adult male C57BL/6 mice (3 months old upon arrival; N = 7) across Baseline (BL), Shock (S) and Extinction (E) phases (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.0001 vs. Baseline).