A new anti-fouling drug, medetomidine, was tested to determine if it reduced the burying speed of a freshwater alien-invasive bivalve species, Corbicula fluminea. Corbicula are known to damage underwater structures and must be managed with chemical paints. The burying speeds of Corbicula were measured both before and after exposure to two different concentrations of medetomidine. The burying sp...

There is currently a lack of understanding how genetic background and sex differences attribute to the heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). An animal model of compulsive-like behaviors has been developed through bidirectional selection of house mice (Mus musculus) for high (big cotton nests; BIG mice) and low levels (small nests; SMALL mice) of nest-building behavior. The BIG m...

Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1 (CRFR1) plays a major role in the regulation of neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to stress and is considered a key mediator of anxiety behavior. The globus pallidus external (GPe), a main relay center within the basal ganglia that is primarily associated with motor and associative functions, is one of the brain nuclei with the highest levels...

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of signs that increases the risk to develop diabetes mellitus type 2 and cardiovascular disease. In the last years, a growing interest to study the relationship between MS and psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety, has emerged obtaining conflicting results. Diet-induced MS rat models have only examined the effects of high-fat or mixed cafeter...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) occurs with high prevalence, and the drugs used to treat OCD are limited in efficacy and have side-effect issues. The discovery of improved medicines for OCD has been hampered in part by the lack of predictive in vivo models. This unit provides a brief overview of two methods that might have such predictive utility. Marble burying and nestlet shredding are tw...

High concentrations of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) nerve fibers are present in the central nucleus of amygdala (CeA), a brain region implicated in the control of fear-related behavior. This study evaluated PACAPergic modulation of fear responses at the CeA in male Sprague-Dawley rats. PACAP (50-100 pmol) microinfusion via intra-CeA cannulae produced increases in i...