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Circadian modulation of performance on an aversion-based place learning task in hamsters.

Sean W Cain1, Tina Chou, Martin R Ralph

  • 1Departments of Psychology and Zoology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S 3G3. swcain@hotmail.com

Behavioural Brain Research
|March 23, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Golden hamsters learn to associate places with rewards or aversive stimuli based on the time of day. This learned circadian timing influences their behavior, showing a stronger response at the time of the original experience.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Chronobiology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Conditioned place preference (CPP) in golden hamsters exhibits circadian regulation, with responses strongest at the time of training.
  • Previous research focused on reward-based conditioning, leaving the effect of circadian timing on aversive conditioning unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether circadian timing influences conditioned place avoidance (CPA) in golden hamsters.
  • To determine if the learned
  • time-stamp
  • phenomenon observed with rewards also applies to aversive stimuli.

Main Methods:

  • Golden hamsters were trained using a context conditioning paradigm with an aversive stimulus (foot shock).
  • Animals were exposed to a "safe" context and a context paired with foot shock at a specific circadian time.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Avoidance behavior was tested at different circadian times post-training.

    • Main Results:

    • Hamsters exhibited strong conditioned place avoidance (CPA) at 24 and 48 hours post-training.
    • No avoidance behavior was observed at 32 and 40 hours post-training, indicating a circadian pattern.
    • Circadian time was learned as part of the conditioning, even without explicit temporal cues.

    Conclusions:

    • The circadian time of an arousing experience (both rewarding and aversive) influences the emotional valence associated with a place.
    • Golden hamsters demonstrate a predisposition to anticipate the recurrence of significant events at approximately 24-hour intervals.
    • This suggests a fundamental role of circadian timing in learned emotional responses in this species.