A Method for Assessing Attentional Bias in Anxious Rats
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Date
2006-08
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
A popular theory regarding the etiology of anxiety disorders asserts that they are developed and maintained by an attentional bias towards threat cues. The present study attempts to develop an animal model that parallels current human research on this bias. Adult rats were tested in a 3-choice serial reaction time task with aversive and appetitive signals, and their performance was compared against anxiety scores from elevated plus maze and open field sessions. A bias towards the aversive signal strongly correlated with anxiety scores, suggesting that this methodology could be used for further animal studies investigating their relationship.
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Keywords
attention, anxiety, animal model, rats