Social Buffering in Rats

Stress may result when the present environment is interpreted as threatening, and stress is known to increase the prolactin-secretory response.In the present study, rats (N = 83) were exposed to a conditioned-fear paradigm (environment paired with footshock), and on testing day, rats were exposed to the experimental chamber without shock while alone (Alone n = 16), with an object (Object n = 17), with a euthanized conspecific (Euthanized n = 16), or with a social partner (Social n = 19).The control group (Control n = 15) was exposed to the experimental chamber but was never shocked.The Control group had significantly lower levels of prolactin than the Alone, Object, and Euthanized groups; however, the Control group's levels of prolactin were not significantly different than that of the Social group, which was significantly lower than that for the Alone group.Social interaction decreased fear independent of the distraction provided by a stimulus in the chamber.Active touch appeared to be crucial for social buffering to occur.Previous research has identified that social partners buffer stress (Kikusui, Winslow, & Mori, 2006).Several mechanisms of this social buffering effect are being identified (Kiyokawa, Kikusui, Takeuchi, & Mori, 2004; Wilson, 2007 3 ).The purpose of the current study was to use a rat model to examine the role of touch by a social partner to decrease stress responses when exposed to a conditioned emotional response (CER) stressor.In humans, stress occurs when an internal need or environmental demand is viewed as threatening or out of one's control (Clark, Rager, & Calpin, 1997).Stressors are often categorized as either physical or psychological.Physical stress is defined as a threat based on physical harm, pain, or the capacity to terminate life (Lovallo, 1997).This type of stress is experimentally induced in animal research by methods which include, but are not limited to, restraint (

Attenuation · Developmental psychology · Hormone · Optics · Physics · Prolactin · Social relation · Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Stress Responses and Cortisol