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Updated: Aug 23, 2026
Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Published on: January 9, 2015
Sex differences on spontaneous alternation in prepubertal rats: implications for an animal model of
Rosa-Elena Ulloa1, Humberto Nicolini, Alonso Fernández-Guasti
1Departamento de Farmacobiología, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Mexico City, Mexico.
Unlabelled:
Sex differences in the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in prepubertal children have been described. Deficits on spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) have been proposed as an animal model of OCD.
Objectives:
To explore possible sex differences in the ontogeny of SAB and in the effect of the 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-hydroxy-2 (di-n-propylamino)-tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) in an animal model of OCD.
Methods:
The ontogeny of SAB and the perseveration produced by 8-OH-DPAT were compared between male and female prepubertal rats.
Results:
Males alternated their arm choose from postnatal day 32 onwards, while females perseverated in the chosen arm until postnatal day 38. The mean number of repetitive choices remained close to 1 in males from postnatal day 23 onwards, but females showed a mean number of repetitive choices higher than 1.5 until the end of the test. The 8-OH-DPAT (0.125, 0.5 and 2.0 mg/kg, 15 min) produced perseveration in males but not in females.
Conclusions:
These data show important sex differences in the ontogeny of SAB and the effect of 8-OH-DPAT in a model of OCD. Such differences could be relevant for the sex differences in the prevalence of childhood OCD.
