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PubMed1986

Differential effects of dopamine D1 and D2 agonists and antagonists on velocity of movement, rearing and grooming in the mouse. Implications for the roles of D1 and D2 receptors.

A system combining visual recording of rearing and grooming, with automatic measurement of slow and fast components of locomotion, was examined for its suitability as a means of studying the effects on behaviour of conventional and novel dopaminergic drugs in the mouse. Amphetamine (0.1-10 mg/kg) selectively stimulated fast movements and affected rearing bimodally. Apomorphine (0.01-5 mg/kg) influenced locomotion polyphasically, depressing fast movements and enhancing slow ones, and producing parallel changes in rearing. Both drugs reduced grooming monotonically. A dose of apomorphine (25 micrograms/kg) which is considered to act presynaptically produced haloperidol-resistant sedation, while a larger dose (0.5 mg/kg; with postsynaptic actions) evoked head-down sniffing and ponderous walking that were partially prevented by pretreatment with 0.05 mg/kg haloperidol (D2 blocker), but not 0.01 mg/kg SCH 23390 (D1 blocker). The behavioural effects of haloperidol (0.2-0.4 mg/kg) and SCH 23390 (0.05 mg/kg) were indistinguishable; both drugs caused sedation and inhibited all forms of motor activity. Small doses of SCH 23390 (2-10 micrograms/kg) and large doses of the D1 agonist SKF 38393 (3-10 mg/kg) evoked excessive grooming. The drug SKF 38393 (1-30 mg/kg) had no other effects on motor behaviour, whereas the whole spectrum of pre- and postsynaptic motor responses produced by apomorphine could be duplicated with the D2 agonist RU 24213 (0.05-15 mg/kg). The differential sensitivity of fast and slow components of locomotion to treatment with drug suggests these are qualitatively distinct responses. The results implicate D2 receptors in the mechanisms of locomotion and rearing, and D1 receptors in the expression of grooming.

2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-7,8-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-1H-3-ben↗
PubMed1983

Location response to a startling noise depends on the preferred grooming site in mice.

The exploratory behavior of adult male Balb/c mice was observed in both a small black box and an open field. The normal exploratory pattern included a strong tendency to groom in a preferred place (G-site); thus, an average of 86% (black box) and 92% (open field) of the total grooming time was spent in a single location, specific for each animal and environment. The response of the animals to a 2-sec, 100 dB auditory stimulus varied according to their location. If the unexpected sound occurred when the mice were in their G-site, they remained there an average of 67% (black box) and 75% (open field) of the trials. If elsewhere, they escaped and ran to their G-site 89% (black box) and 73% (open field) of the times. Mice treated with diazepam (5 mg/kg) showed the normal tendency to groom in a preferred place, but never escaped after the stimulus, even if it occurred when they were outside their G-site, nor did they resume normal exploratory behavior. It seems that the preferred grooming location is the place that serves as a refuge from an aversive noise signal, but only the latter behavior is abolished by diazepam, presumably by reduction of stress.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Quantitative alteration of grooming behavior in aged male rats.

Novelty-induced grooming was studied in aged male rats (24 months old) compared to young animals (3 months old). When put in a novel environment, aged rats exhibited a grooming activity markedly higher than that shown by young rats. Such an excessive grooming did not disappear over a 30 min observation. Furthermore, no significant difference between old and young rats was found in ambulation, rearing and defecation, as observed in an open field. It may be suggested that increased grooming activity in aged rats involves a disability to adapt to a novel environmental situation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Neonatal undernutrition and self-grooming development in the rat: long-term effects.

The effect of neonatal undernutrition on six different self-grooming components was examined in male rats during the pre- and postweaning periods. Rats underfed by the maternal nipple-ligation procedure before weaning did not exhibit significant score differences in the various self-grooming measurements. In contrast, after weaning they showed a significant increment in the duration of face-washing, head-washing, fur licking and body-scratching. In all cases, the total postweaning self-grooming activity was significantly increased in the formerly underfed rats. Present data suggest that neonatal undernutrition may presumably interfere with the sequential maturational processes of central and/or peripheral mechanisms underlying some components of self-grooming behavior.

Aging↗
PubMed1981

Prolactin induces grooming in the rat: possible involvement of nigrostriatal dopaminergic system.

The possibility that Prolactin-induced grooming involves the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system was studied. Intracerebroventricular injection of rat Prolactin (PRL) in an amount of 10 micrograms induced grooming in male rats, and neostriatal injection of haloperidol (1 microgram/1 microliter) markedly suppressed this effect. Local administration of 6-OHDA in the substantia nigra also abolished the influence of intracerebroventricularly administered PRL. Bilateral injections of PRL (10 micrograms/l microliters) in the neostriatum failed to induce grooming, whereas bilateral injections of peptide into the substantia nigra (1 microgram/0.5 micrograms) elicited the behavioral response. It is probable that PRL induces grooming in the rat by interacting with the nigrostriatal dopaminergic transmission through an action on the cell bodies rather than in presynaptic terminals or at the postsynaptic level of this system.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Endothelin-C-terminal hexapeptide increases grooming in mice.

Grooming behavior has been considered a response to stress, and a number of stress-related peptides have been demonstrated to modulate grooming behavior. In the experiments reported here, endothelin-C-terminal hexapeptide containing amino acid residues 16-21, ET[16-21], increased grooming with a maximum effect at 0.75 microgram. ET[16-21] did not significantly alter eating or locomotor behavior. Both alpha-helical CRF (10 micrograms) and neuropeptide Y (1 microgram) inhibited the grooming produced by ET[16-21].

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Periaqueductal gray lesions do not affect grooming, induced electrically in the hypothalamic paraventricular area in the rat.

Electrical stimulation inducing behavioral responses from the hypothalamus seems to activate systems involved in the execution phase of the behaviour rather than in the introductory or decision-making phase. However, the pathways involved are not fully understood. Projections originating from hypothalamic areas involved in specific behavioral responses are rather complex. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) has been proposed to be an essential output station of hypothalamic behavioral mechanisms. Here we report that lesions of the periaqueductal gray area have no effect on grooming responses evoked by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular area. Neither threshold current intensities needed to evoke grooming, nor latencies were affected 7 or 14 days after lesioning. The lesions caused severe behavioural deficits. Animals did not drink or eat spontaneously, had problems with motor coordination and sometimes showed strong defensive reactions upon touch. However, their grooming responses induced by hypothalamic stimulation were not changed. The PAG may have a modulatory role on grooming behaviour; however, this modulatory effect apparently is overruled during electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Direct osmotic stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus by microdialysis induces excessive grooming in the rat.

This study examined the effects of direct osmotic stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) on grooming behavior of adult male rats. Animals chronically fitted with a microdialysis probe in the right PVN responded to dialysis with hypertonic (containing 1 M NaCl) artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) with grooming behavior (to approx. 500%, P < 0.01, ANOVA) and a significantly reduced time resting (to approx. 20%, P < 0.01, ANOVA), compared with controls which received either the same treatment in the right supraoptic nucleus or in which the PVN was dialyzed with isotonic (0.15 M NaCl) a CSF. These results indicate that direct osmotic stimulation of the PVN via microdialysis is able to trigger and to maintain excessive grooming activity in rats; the novel experimental approach used here provides the potential to investigate the involvement of endogenous, intracerebrally released substances in the grooming response.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

ACTH acts via an anterior ventral third ventricular site to elicit grooming behavior.

Intracerebroventricular but not parenteral application of ACTH has been shown to elicit excessive grooming behavior in rats and mice. This behavior is elicited by administration of ACTH into the lateral, third, or fourth ventricles. Plugging of the cerebral aqueduct with cold cream fails to prevent grooming in response to lateral ventricle injection of ACTH. However, cold cream plugs in the third ventricle can prevent the subsequent induction of grooming behavior by lateral ventricle injection of ACTH, but only when the plugs are located in the anterior ventral third ventricle in the region of the organum vasculosum laminae terminalis (OVLT) and median eminence. These data suggest the anterior ventral third ventricle as the periventricular site of action of ACTH in eliciting excessive grooming, although it is possible that peptides taken up in this area are transported to other regions to elicit the behavioral response.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioral changes in ACTH-(1-24)-induced excessive grooming in aging rats.

Age-related behavioral changes are commonly associated with impaired cognitive functioning. As a result an abundance of neuropsychological tools have been developed to study learning and memory in man and animal. The combined use of ethological methods and the extensively studied measures of excessive grooming behavior in rats provides an excellent tool to study non-cognitive behavioral changes. In the present study, a sequential analysis was applied to the different grooming elements. Aged rats showed a loss in the sequential organization of their grooming behavior, which led to a decrease in the display of tail sniffing. Interestingly, the reduced display of an element which appears latest in the ontogeny of grooming is reminiscent of the Jacksonian principle of behavioral degeneration. Seemingly, this principle is not necessarily confined to learning paradigms, but may be extended to other behavioral systems as well.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1988

The spontaneously diabetic Wistar-BB rat manifests altered grooming and catalepsy responses: implications of impaired dopamine function.

1. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that the grooming and catalepsy behaviors, believed to be mediated predominantly by the D1 and D2 dopamine receptor based mechanism(s), respectively, are altered in the Spontaneously Diabetic Wistar-BB Rat (SDR). 2. The insulin treated male SDR (5-6 months diabetic) and a genetically matched Non-Diabetic (NDR) control group were monitored for pharmacologically-induced catalepsy as well as stress-induced grooming. 3. Results obtained indicated that the SDR manifested an increased sensitivity to i) the cataleptogenic effects of haloperidol (0.3-1.0 mg/kg; s.c.) and ii) to the grooming response elicited by a mild stressor (novel environment), when compared to the NDR group. However, under more stressful conditions, the NDR groomed as much as the SDR. The altered behavioral sensitivity of the SDR may be a consequence of impaired dopaminergic neurotransmission and the subsequent upregulation of D1 receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Beta-endorphin concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid of monkeys are influenced by grooming relationships.

Social relationships are integral to the behaviour of many mammalian species. Primates are unusual in that their social relationships are extensive within groups, which often contain many reproductively active males and females. Several hypotheses have been forwarded to explain the ultimate causation of primate sociality. While attention has focused on grooming as a proximate factor influencing social relationships, the neural basis of such behaviour has not been investigated in monkeys. This report presents changes in the brain's opioid system contingent on grooming in monkeys. Opiates themselves have a feedback interaction with grooming behaviour, as revealed from the administration of opiate agonists and antagonists. Opiate receptor blockade increases the motivation to be groomed, while morphine administration decreases it. These data support the view that brain opioids play an important role in mediating social attachment and may provide the neural basis on which primate sociality has evolved.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

The effect of haloperidol and naloxone on excessive grooming behavior of cats.

In a double-blind cross-over study the effect of a single injection of naloxone (1 mg/kg s.c.) was investigated in 12 cats which suffered from excessive grooming with subsequent coat damage. Based on clinical observations and reports of the owners, naloxone had a beneficial effect on grooming which lasted between 2.5 weeks and 6 months (median 3 months). In another double-blind placebo-controlled study the effect of a single injection of haloperidol (2 mg/kg i.v.) was investigated in 20 cats with excessive grooming. Within 24 h haloperidol significantly reduced the time spent grooming. Four months after the injection no effect remained in nine of 10 cats injected with a placebo solution, whereas six of 10 cats injected with haloperidol the improved condition of the coat was maintained. It is hypothesized that naloxone is only effective in counteracting recently developed stereotypic behaviors and that haloperidol rather reduces stereotyped behaviors over a longer period.

Alopecia↗
PubMed1976

An analysis of sandbathing and grooming in the kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami).

The sandbathing and grooming behaviour of ten kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) were recorded on sand and woodchip substrates after periods of 0, 1, 5 and 10 days without sand. Sandbathing is restricted to the sandy substrate. Grooming occurs on both, but with a higher frequency on sand. Increases in both grooming and sandbathing occur with increasing sand deprivation, but the temporal patterning does not change. D. merriami tends to alternate sandbathing components in contrast to other Dipodomys species. Lipid on the pelage increases noticeably with sand deprivation and decreases during a sandbathing bout; sand appears to be removed from the pelage by shaking and grooming. These findings suggest a three-process system for care of the body surface.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2001

Genital grooming and emesis induced by vanilloids in Suncus murinus, the house musk shrew.

The potential of resiniferatoxin and capsaicin to modulate emesis and genital grooming was investigated in Suncus murinus. Resinifertoxin (3-30 nmol, i.c.v.), E-capsaicin (10-100 nmol, i.c.v.) and Z-capsaicin (100 nmol, i.c.v.) induced emesis (P<0.05) and subsequently antagonised the emetic response induced by intragastric copper sulphate (480.6 micromol/kg; P<0.05). However, resiniferatoxin failed to affect nicotine-induced (30.7 mol/kg, s.c.) emesis (P>0.05). Only resiniferatoxin induced genital grooming that was antagonised (P<0.05) by capsazepine (300-600 nmol, i.c.v.) and ruthenium red (3 nmol, i.c.v.). E-capsaicin-induced emesis was antagonised by capsazepine (300-600 nmol, i.c.v.; P<0.05) and ruthenium red (3 nmol, i.c.v.; P<0.05) but resiniferatoxin-induced emesis was resistant to capsazepine (30-600 nmol, i.c.v.; P>0.05). The emetic action of resiniferatoxin but not E-capsaicin was subject to tachyphylaxis. In cross-tachyphylaxis experiments, E-capsaicin reduced the genital grooming induced by resiniferatoxin (P<0.05). The data are discussed in relation to the classification of vanilloid receptors and mechanisms involved in emesis and genital grooming.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Topographical evaluation of the phenotype of spontaneous behaviour in mice with targeted gene deletion of the D1A dopamine receptor: paradoxical elevation of grooming syntax.

The phenotype of spontaneous behaviour in mice with targeted gene deletion of the DIA dopamine receptor was investigated topographically. Via direct visual observation, individual elements of behaviour were resolved and quantified using an ethologically-based, rapid time-sampling behavioural check-list procedure. Relative to wildtypes (D1A+/+), D1A-null (-/-) mice evidenced over initial exploration significant reductions in rearing free, sifting and chewing, but significant increases in locomotion, grooming and intense grooming. Sniffing and rearing to a wall habituated less readily in D1A-null mice such that these behaviours occurred subsequently to significant excess: increases in locomotion were persistent. The ethogram of spontaneous behaviour in D1A-null mice was characterised by neither 'hypoactivity' or 'hyperactivity' but, rather, by prominent topographical shifts between individual elements of behaviour that could not be encapsulated by either term. Given the substantial body of evidence that grooming and particularly intense grooming constitute the most widely accepted behavioural index of D1-like receptor function, the elevation of such behaviour in D1A-null mice was paradoxical; it may reflect (over)compensatory processes subsequent to developmental absence of D1A receptors and/or the involvement of a D1-like receptor other than/additional to the D1A subtype.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Vasopressin into the preoptic area increases grooming behavior in mice.

In mice, the neuropeptide arginine-8-vasopressin (AVP) induces excessive grooming, scratching, and hyperactivity when administered intracerebroventricularly. In hamsters, AVP infusion into the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (MPOA/AH) increases flank marking and flank mark grooming. We measured the behavioral effects of administration of AVP (0, 1, and 10 ng/250 nl) into the preoptic area (POA) of male C57BL/6 mice. Administration of AVP into the POA induced robust effects on grooming, including increased hindleg scratching and face washing. Rearing and olfactory investigation were inhibited by AVP into the POA. These findings indicate that the POA is one site in which AVP induces grooming behavior in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

The hypothalamus: cross-roads of endocrine and behavioural regulation in grooming and aggression.

Anatomical and functional studies show that the hypothalamus is at the junction of mechanisms involved in the exploratory appraisal phase of behaviour and mechanisms involved in the execution of specific consummatory acts. However, the hypothalamus is also a crucial link in endocrine regulation. In natural settings it has been shown that behavioural challenges produce large and fast increases in circulating hormones such as testosterone, prolactin, corticotropin and corticosterone. The behavioural function and neural mechanisms of such fast neuroendocrine changes are not well understood. We suggest that behaviourally specific hypothalamic mechanisms, at the cross-roads of behavioural and endocrine regulation, play a role in such neuroendocrine changes. Mild stimulation of the hypothalamic aggressive area, produces stress levels of circulating prolactin, corticotropin, and corticosterone. Surprisingly luteinizing hormone does not change. This increase in stress hormones is due to the stimulation itself, and not caused by the stress of fighting. Similar increases in corticosterone are observed during electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic self-grooming area. The corticosterone response during self-grooming-evoking stimulation is negatively correlated with the amount of self-grooming observed, suggesting that circulating corticosterone exerts a negative feedback control on grooming. Earlier literature, and preliminary data form our laboratory, show that circulating corticosterone exerts a fast positive feedback control over brain mechanisms involved in aggressive behaviour. Such findings suggest that the hormonal responses caused by the activity of behaviourally specific areas of the hypothalamus may be part of a regulation mechanism involved in facilitating or inhibiting the very behavioural responses that can be evoked from those areas. We suggest that studying such mechanisms may provide a new approach to behavioural dysfunctions associated with endocrine disorders and stress.

Aggression↗