Right-sided population bias in male rats: role of stress

POPULATION-LEVEL RIGHT-PAW PREFERENCE IN RATS ASSESSED BY A NEW COMPUTERIZED FOOD-REACHING TEST

We re-studied the distribution of paw preference in rats using a new computerized food-reaching test, which recorded the times and time intervals between the single right- and left-paw entries. Using the traditional food-reaching test, we found that of 144 rats, 72.7% were right-handed, 19.7% left-handed, and 7.6% mixed-handed. This population-level J-shaped right-hand preference did not fit a binomial chance distribution (25:25:50). Of right -handers, 99.5% first used their right paw and 0.5% left paw; of left-handers, 98.6% first used their left paw and 1.4% right paw. Of mixed-handers, 59% first used the right paw and 41% left paw for food reaching. The time interval between putting the rat into the test cage and the first right-paw entry was significantly shorter than the first left-paw entry in total sample. Males were faster than females (shorter time intervals between right- or left-paw entries). The distribution of the time intervals between right- or left-paw entries was inverse J-shaped, which exhibited a normal distribution after taking the logarithms of the time intervals. There was no significant difference between time intervals for the left-paw entries; time intervals for the right-paw entries were significantly shorter in males than females, accentuating the role of the left brain for sex differences in motor control. The results suggested that humans are not unique in population-level right-hand preference; our new method would be suitable for new developments in handedness research.

Arousal mediates relations among medial paw preference, lateral paw preference, and spatial preference in the mouse

Rodents exhibit two well-documented behavioural lateralities: spatial preference and paw preference. Waters and Denenberg [36] have identified two seemingly independent factors of paw preference: medial and lateral paw preference. In the present work, the relations among spatial preference (SP), medial paw preference (MPP), and lateral paw preference (LPP) during states of high and low arousal were examined. These preferences were measured in terms of direction, which describes the side of the preference regardless of strength, and degree, which describes the strength of the preference regardless of direction. A strong positive correlation between LPP and SP was found during periods of high, but not low, arousal. A negative correlation between the degree components of LPP and MPP was found during the low, but not high, arousal periods.

Behaviour laterality in male rats: influence of practice and stress

During recent decades, the existence of cerebral and behavioural asymmetries has been manifested in many different animal species. In this work, the asymmetric spatial preference recorded in the water T-maze has been analysed. Fifty-five male rats were tested in this maze for 8 consecutive days. Spatial preference, the number of times each arm was chosen, and the percentages of animals that showed right, left, or no spatial preference were calculated. The results show the evolution of this asymmetric behaviour. Most of the animals tested preferred the right arm (populational laterality). Recently, the influence of factors such as stress and practice in the process of acquiring this behaviour has been investigated. We used 40 male rats divided into two groups with two different stress levels: water temperature at 21 degrees C and 14 degrees C. Our results, based on these two criteria, hypothesize that both variables, stress and practice, are involved in the acquisition of spatial preference behaviour.

Asymmetrical influence of mesocortical dopamine depletion on stress ulcer development and subcortical dopamine systems in rats: implications for psychopathology

The effects of left, right or bilateral depletion of the mesocortical dopamine innervation (medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate) with 6-hydroxydopamine were examined in male Sprague-Dawley rats tested for susceptibility to cold restraint-induced gastric stress pathology. All three types of lesions tended to potentiate the development of stress pathology (i.e. ulceration) in comparison to restrained shams, but only right cortical dopamine depletion produced a highly significant increase. The results support a protective role for mesocortical dopamine in helping the organism cope with stressful situations, and extend previous findings suggesting that dopamine activation in the right cortex is preferentially associated with uncontrollable stress. The right cortex is hypothesized to be at the top of a hierarchy in the processing of such stressful inputs, and endogenous dopaminergic modulation facilitates adaptive responses. Subcortical dopamine terminal regions were also examined for dopamine content and turnover. In addition to depleting cortical dopamine, the three lesion groups showed highly specific alterations in the status of subcortical dopamine systems, compared to either restrained or non-restrained shams. Left brain lesions resulted in significant bilateral increases in amygdala dopamine turnover. Right cortical lesions induced significant bilateral reductions of striatal dopamine content. Bilateral lesions increased dopamine content in the left amygdala and decreased dopamine in the right nucleus accumbens. Also in this group, dopamine turnover was increased in the right nucleus accumbens and decreased in the right amygdala. The data suggest that increases in stress vulnerability induced by cortical lesions may be related, in part, to neurochemical alterations in subcortical structures previously shown to modulate gastric stress pathology. The results also indicate that brain organization is inherently asymmetrical with respect to the regulation of responses to stress, which may be of significance for human psychopathology and its exacerbation by stress.