Slope climbing challenges, fear of heights, anxiety and time of the day

Ennaceur, A.; Hussain, M.D.; Abuhamdah, R.M.; Mostafa, R.M.; Chazot, P.L.

Abstract

When exposed to an unfamiliar open space, animals experience fear and attempt to find an escape route. Anxiety emerges when animals are confronted with a challenging obstacle to this fear motivated escape. High anxiety animals do not take risks; they avoid the challenge. The present experiments investigated this risk avoidant behavior in mice. In experiment 1, BALB/c, C57BL/6J and CD-1 mice were exposed to a large platform with downward inclined steep slopes attached on two opposite sides. The platform was elevated 75 and 100 cm from the ground, in a standard (SPDS) and in a raised (RPDS) configuration, respectively. In experiment 2, the platform was elevated 75 cm from the ground. Mice had to climb onto a stand at the top of upward inclined slopes (SPUS). In experiment 3, BALB/c mice were exposed to SPDS with steep or shallow slopes either in early morning or in late afternoon. In all 3 test configurations, mice spent more time in the areas adjacent to the slopes than in the areas adjacent to void, however only C57BL/6J and CD-1 crossed onto the slopes in SPDS, and crossed onto the stands in SPUS whereas BALB/c remained on the platform in SPDS and explored the slopes in SPUS. Elevation of the platform from the ground reduced the crossings onto the slopes in C57BL/6J and CD-1, and no differences were observed between BALB/c and C57BL/6J. BALB/c mice demonstrated no difference in anxiety when tested early morning or late afternoon; they crossed onto shallow slopes and avoided the steep one.

Citation

Ennaceur, A., Hussain, M., Abuhamdah, R., Mostafa, R., & Chazot, P. (2017). Slope climbing challenges, fear of heights, anxiety and time of the day. Behavioural Brain Research, 316, 169-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.09.010

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 3, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Sep 5, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2017
• Journal: Behavioural Brain Research
• Print ISSN: 0166-4328
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 316
• Pages: 169-182
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.09.010
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1375241