Enhanced anandamide signaling reduces flight behavior elicited by an approaching robo-beetle
Our current knowledge of the implications of endocannabinoids in fear and anxiety is largely based on fear conditioning paradigms and approach-avoidance conflicts. Here we establish the ethobehavioral beetle mania task (BMT), which confronts mice with an erratically moving robo-beetle. With the help...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
7 September 2017
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| In: |
Neuropharmacology
Year: 2017, Volume: 126, Pages: 233-241 |
| ISSN: | 1873-7064 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.09.010 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei registrierungspflichtig, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.09.010 Verlag, kostenfrei registrierungspflichtig, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390817304276 
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| Author Notes: | Daniel E. Heinz, Andreas Genewsky, Carsten T. Wotjak |
| Summary: | Our current knowledge of the implications of endocannabinoids in fear and anxiety is largely based on fear conditioning paradigms and approach-avoidance conflicts. Here we establish the ethobehavioral beetle mania task (BMT), which confronts mice with an erratically moving robo-beetle. With the help of this task we demonstrate decreased tolerance yet increased avoidance responses to an approaching beetle in high-anxiety behavior (HAB) and BALBc mice compared to C57BL/6N, CD1 and normal-anxiety behavior (NAB) mice. Also DBA/2N mice showed decreased passive and increased active behavior, but followed the robo-beetle more often than HAB and BALBc mice. Treatment with diazepam (1 mg/kg) increased tolerance without affecting avoidance behavior in HAB mice. Treatment with the MAGL inhibitor JZL184 (8 mg/kg) increased flight behavior, but did not affect tolerance. The FAAH inhibitor URB597 (0.3 mg/kg), however, reduced flight behavior and enhanced tolerance to the robo-beetle. The latter effects were blocked by co-treatment with the CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A (3 mg/kg), which failed to affect the behavior by itself. Taken together, we validate the BMT as a novel test for studying endocannabinoids beyond traditional paradigms and for assessing active fear responses in mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate panicolytic consequences of pharmacological enhancement of anandamide, but not 2-AG signaling. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 20.04.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1873-7064 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.09.010 |