Assessing Allostatic Load in Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta)
Responses to stress are unavoidable, adaptive mechanisms in humans and non-human animals. However, in humans, chronic stress has been linked to poor health outcomes and early mortality. Allostatic load, the physiologic dysregulation that occurs when an organism is exposed to chronic stressors, has been used to assess stress in humans; less work has been done […]
Effects of experimental chronic traffic noise exposure on adult and nestling corticosterone levels, and nestling body condition in a free-living bird
Transportation noise affects urbanized, rural, and otherwise unaltered habitats. Given expanding transportation networks, alterations in the acoustic landscapes experienced by animals are likely to be pervasive and persistent (i.e. chronic). It is important to understand if chronic noise exposure alters behavior and physiology in free-living animals, as it may result in long-lasting impacts, such as […]
Sex-dependent effects of chronic unpredictable stress in the water maze
Exposure to chronic predictable stress, such as restraint, can affect performance on spatial memory tasks and these effects have been shown to be sex-specific in rats. It is not known whether unpredictable stress has similar sex-specific effects on spatial memory and whether those effects are present after the stress procedure has ended. Therefore, the current […]
Repeated exposure to immobilization or two different footshock intensities reveals differential adaptation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis
Factors involved in adaptation to repeated stress are not well-characterized. For instance, acute footshock (FS) of high intensity appears to be less severe than immobilization (IMO) in light of the speed of post-stress recovery of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and other physiological variables. However, repeated exposure to IMO consistently resulted in reduction of the HPA […]
Sex differences in stress responses: Focus on ovarian hormones
Women in the reproductive age are more vulnerable to develop affective disorders than men. This difference may attribute to anatomical differences, hormonal influences and environmental factors such as stress. However, the higher prevalence in women normalizes once menopause is established, suggesting that ovarian hormones may play an important role in the development of depression in […]
Behavioural and hormonal indicators of enduring environmental stress in dogs
Four groups of dogs, which had been subjected to housing conditions of varying quality for years, were assumed to experience different levels of stress. The groups were compared for behavioural and hormonal parameters in order to identify measures that indicate chronic stress in the dog and which may help to identify poor welfare in this […]
Chronic stress in sheep: assessment tools and their use in different management conditions
Chronic stress occurs when animals are unable to deal with a persistent stressor with species-typical responses, or when several stressors are present concurrently. Chronic stress is most frequently considered in intensive systems, but it may also be a welfare concern for extensively managed species, such as the sheep. Here we review behavioural and physiological responses […]
Coping styles of tethered sows
Observed the behavior of 20 nonpregnant primiparous sows from the moment of 1st tethering until 2 hrs thereafter, and after being tethered for 1 and 2 mo. After 2 mo, Ss could be divided into 2 distinct groups: (1) high stereotypers (HSTs) and (2) low stereotypers (LSTs). Ss that resisted most at 1st tethering showed […]
The effect of unpredictable chronic mild stress on depressive-like behavior and on hippocampal A1 and striatal A2A adenosine receptors
Abstract This study examined the effects of two chronic stress regimens upon depressive-like behavior, A1 and A2A adenosine receptor binding and immunocontent. Male rats were subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) or to chronic restraint stress (CRS) for 40 days. Subsequently, depressive-like behaviors (forced swimming and consumption of sucrose) were evaluated, and A1 adenosine […]
Chronic variable stress in fathers alters paternal and social behavior but not pup development in the biparental California mouse (Peromyscus californicus)
Stress and chronically elevated glucocorticoid levels have been shown to disrupt parental behavior in mothers; however, almost no studies have investigated corresponding effects in fathers. The present experiment tested the hypothesis that chronic variable stress inhibits paternal behavior and consequently alters pup development in the monogamous, biparental California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). First-time fathers were assigned […]