Biomaterial Database

Predator odor as an unconditioned fear stimulus in rats: elicitation of freezing by trimethylthiazoline, a component of fox feces. 2000

K J Wallace, and J B Rosen

Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA.

Four experiments tested whether an odor from a rat predator can unconditionally elicit a fear response in rats. In a large chamber, rats displayed fear-related behaviors to trimethylthiazoline (TMT, a volatile compound isolated from fox feces), including avoidance and immobility, while showing less exploratory behavior. In a smaller chamber, TMT induced a species-typical fear response, freezing, whereas other odors did not. In addition, TMT systematically elicited more freezing as the amount of TMT increased. Moreover, there was no within-sessions or between-sessions habituation of freezing to TMT, nor did TMT promote contextual conditioning. The results indicate that the predator odor, TMT, can induce a fear-related behavioral response in rats that is controllable and quantifiable, suggesting that TMT-induced freezing may be a useful paradigm for a neurobehavioral system analysis of ecologically relevant, unconditioned fear.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009812	Odorants	The volatile portions of chemical substances perceptible by the sense of smell.	Odors,Aroma,Fragrance,Scents,Aromas,Fragrances,Odor,Odorant,Scent
D011235	Predatory Behavior	Instinctual behavior pattern in which food is obtained by killing and consuming other species.	Predation,Behavior, Predatory,Predatory Behaviors
D003213	Conditioning, Psychological	Simple form of learning involving the formation, strengthening, or weakening of an association between a stimulus and a response.	Conditioning, Psychology,Psychological Conditioning,Social Learning Theory,Social Learning Theories,Theory, Social Learning
D005239	Fear	The affective response to an actual current external danger which subsides with the elimination of the threatening condition.	Threat Cues,Threat Sensitivity,Cue, Threat,Fears,Sensitivity, Threat,Threat Cue,Threat Sensitivities
D005243	Feces	Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
D006633	Histamine Antagonists	Drugs that bind to but do not activate histamine receptors, thereby blocking the actions of histamine or histamine agonists. Classical antihistaminics block the histamine H1 receptors only.	Antihistamine,Antihistamines,Histamine Antagonist,Antagonist, Histamine,Antagonists, Histamine
D000439	Pentanols	Isomeric forms and derivatives of pentanol (C5H11OH).	Alcohols, Amyl,Pentyl Alcohols,Hydroxypentanes,Methylbutanols,Alcohols, Pentyl,Amyl Alcohols
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001522	Behavior, Animal	The observable response an animal makes to any situation.	Autotomy Animal,Animal Behavior,Animal Behaviors