Despite or possibly by virtue of the fact that it is one of the most commonly used animal models of anxiety the Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM) results in a wide range of, often contradictory, results following pharmacological experiments. The responses from a questionnaire distributed to 65 groups that have published studies using the EPM in the past 3 years has, along with reference to published rep...

This study investigated the effect of Withania somnifera Dunal (WS) root extract and diazepam in social isolation induced behavior such as anxiety and depression in rats. Rats were isolated for 6 weeks and the assessment of changed behavior were done on elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swim test (FST). Isolation reared rats spent less time into the open arms on EPM and significantly increase...

BACKGROUND Compound Valeriana jatamansi Jones is a formula for treating anxiety-related diseases in the clinic, which is composed of Valeriana jatamansi Rhizoma et Radix, Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, Albiziae Cortex and Junci Medulla. The purpose of this study was to explore the anxiolytic properties of this compound in mice. METHODS Male ICR mice were treated with compound Valerianae Jatamansi Jo...

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and ventral hippocampus (vHPC) functionally interact during innate anxiety tasks. To explore the consequences of this interaction, we examined task-related firing of single units from the mPFC of mice exploring standard and modified versions of the elevated plus maze (EPM), an innate anxiety paradigm. Hippocampal local field potentials (LFPs) were simultaneou...

Recent studies have revealed diverse therapeutically interesting pharmacological properties of a standardized Hypericum perforatum extract (HpE) potentially useful for treatments of patients with metabolic and psychiatric disorders. Consequently, the presented experiments were designed to test usefulness of the extract for the treatment of comorbid conditions of mood disturbances and anxiety in...

In adult animals, peptide hormones, including oxytocin and arginine vasopressin, have been implicated in both parental behavior and the modulation of anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of developmental manipulations of oxytocin for the later expression of alloparental behavior as well as behavioral responses to a novel environment, the elevated plus maze (EPM). P...

Serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2CR) agonists attenuate reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. These receptors are found throughout the limbic system, including the basolateral amygdala (BlA), which is involved in forming associations between emotional stimuli and environmental cues, and the central amygdala (CeA), which is implicated in the expression of conditioned responding to emotional stim...

The elevated plus-maze (EPM) model usually employs nocturnal species (e.g. rats and mice) and the tests are almost exclusively performed during the diurnal phase (lights on), leading some laboratories to perform experiments with animals under a reversed light cycle to overcome this problem. However, it is questionable whether the artificial reversal of the light cycle for short periods guarante...

BACKGROUND Research in the area of herbal psychopharmacology has clearly improved in recent decades. Self-administration of herbal medicines has been the most popular therapeutic alternative to standard medicine. OBJECTIVES Since the extract of Echium amoenum exhibits an anxiolytic effect, the aim of this study is to evaluate the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects in mice of the aqueous and etha...

Abstract Background Eragrostis tremula Hochst. ex Steud. (Poaceae) is used in ethno-medicine as a memory enhancer. Studies have shown that the whole plant possesses enhancing potentials and could be beneficial management of amnesia cognitive deficit. Aim This study was aimed at investigating actions E. extract on diazepam-induced mice. Acute toxicity profiling done stated by Organization for Ec...