Inter-individual and inter-strain differences in cognitive and social abilities of Dark Agouti and Wistar Han rats. 2020

Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany; Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany.

Healthy animals displaying extreme behaviours that resemble human psychiatric symptoms are relevant models to study the natural psychobiological processes of maladapted behaviours. Using a Rat Gambling Task, healthy individuals spontaneously making poor decisions (PDMs) were found to co-express a combination of other cognitive and reward-based characteristics similar to symptoms observed in human patients with impulse-control disorders. The main goals of this study were to 1) confirm the existence of PDMs and their unique behavioural phenotypes in Dark Agouti (DA) and Wistar Han (WH) rats, 2) to extend the behavioural profile of the PDMs to probability-based decision-making and social behaviours and 3) to extract key discriminative traits between DA and WH strains, relevant for biomedical research. We have compared cognitive abilities, natural behaviours and physiological responses in DA and WH rats at the strain and at the individual level. Here we found that the naturally occurring PDM's profile was consistent between both rat lines. Then, although the PDM individuals did not take more risks in probability discounting task, they seemed to be of higher social ranks. Finally and despite their similarities in performance, WH and DA lines differed in degree of reward sensitivity, impulsivity, locomotor activity and open space-occupation. The reproducibility and conservation of the complex phenotypes of PDMs and GDMs (good decision makers) in these two genetically different strains support their translational potential. Both strains, present large phenotypic variation in behaviours pertinent for the study of the underlying mechanisms of poor decision making and associated disorders.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007175 Impulsive Behavior An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus. Impulsivity,Behavior, Impulsive,Behaviors, Impulsive,Impulsive Behaviors,Impulsivities
D007206 Individuality Those psychological characteristics which differentiate individuals from one another. Individual Differences,Difference, Individual,Differences, Individual,Individual Difference
D008124 Locomotion Movement or the ability to move from one place or another. It can refer to humans, vertebrate or invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Locomotor Activity,Activities, Locomotor,Activity, Locomotor,Locomotor Activities
D008297 Male Males
D010641 Phenotype The outward appearance of the individual. It is the product of interactions between genes, and between the GENOTYPE and the environment. Phenotypes
D011337 Probability Learning Usually refers to the use of mathematical models in the prediction of learning to perform tasks based on the theory of probability applied to responses; it may also refer to the frequency of occurrence of the responses observed in the particular study. Learning, Probability,Learnings, Probability,Probability Learnings
D011919 Rats, Inbred Strains Genetically identical individuals developed from brother and sister matings which have been carried out for twenty or more generations or by parent x offspring matings carried out with certain restrictions. This also includes animals with a long history of closed colony breeding. August Rats,Inbred Rat Strains,Inbred Strain of Rat,Inbred Strain of Rats,Inbred Strains of Rats,Rat, Inbred Strain,August Rat,Inbred Rat Strain,Inbred Strain Rat,Inbred Strain Rats,Inbred Strains Rat,Inbred Strains Rats,Rat Inbred Strain,Rat Inbred Strains,Rat Strain, Inbred,Rat Strains, Inbred,Rat, August,Rat, Inbred Strains,Rats Inbred Strain,Rats Inbred Strains,Rats, August,Rats, Inbred Strain,Strain Rat, Inbred,Strain Rats, Inbred,Strain, Inbred Rat,Strains, Inbred Rat
D003071 Cognition Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge. Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D003657 Decision Making The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea. Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D004195 Disease Models, Animal Naturally-occurring or experimentally-induced animal diseases with pathological processes analogous to human diseases. Animal Disease Model,Animal Disease Models,Disease Model, Animal

Related Publications

Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
February 1997, Environmental toxicology and pharmacology,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
January 1999, Acta veterinaria Hungarica,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
September 2004, Drug metabolism and disposition: the biological fate of chemicals,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
February 1979, Annual review of psychology,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
May 2016, The Journal of veterinary medical science,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
January 2015, PloS one,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
January 2004, Brain research,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
May 1998, Biochemical pharmacology,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
January 2023, Frontiers in psychology,
Lucille Alonso, and Polina Peeva, and Arnau Ramos-Prats, and Natalia Alenina, and York Winter, and Marion Rivalan
January 1991, Drug metabolism and disposition: the biological fate of chemicals,
Copied contents to your clipboard!