Abstract

CELIS, Cesar A.; MARTINEZ, Diana P.  and  CONDE, Carlos A.. The susceptibility to infection by Leishmania panamensis and the sensitivity to drugs differ according to the macrophage type. Rev. Univ. Ind. Santander. Salud [online]. 2010, vol.42, n.3, pp.220-228. ISSN 0121-0807.

Introduction: Usually, the analysis of the rat exploratory behavior in elevated plus maze is carried out to the general population, without any discrimination between individuals as a function of their exploratory decisions. Considering the decision making to enter into a maze zone as a conflict between motivation to explore and aversion, the current work pretends to assess the first entry into the maze arms as indicator of the initial state of the motivation and aversion levels of the environment and therefore, as early indicator of the evolution of the exploratory behavior. Materials and methods: It was evaluated the performance of male Wistar rats in elevated plus maze subjected to a first exposure, divided into two groups, according to whether its first entry was made into the open or closed arms. Results: Those rats that entered first into the open arms obtained higher significant values in the number of entries and time spent in these arms with respect to those rats that entered first into the closed arms; but it was not obtained differences in the number of entries into the closed arms. Conclusion: The first animal choice predicts the behavior during the 5 minutes of exploration and allows to discriminate the rats between two anxiety levels, being suggested the percentage of entries in open arms as discriminatory variable with cut-off value in 30.77%. Salud UIS 2010; 42: 220-228

Keywords : Aversion; decision making; exploratory behavior; motivation; Wistar rats.

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