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Social harassment induces anxiety-like behaviour in crayfish
Julien Bacqué-Cazenave1, Daniel Cattaert1, Jean-Paul Delbecque1
1INCIA - Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, University of Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5287, 146 Rue Leo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux, France.
Scientific Reports
|January 4, 2017
Summary
Social hierarchies can cause harassment and anxiety in crayfish, similar to mammals. Stress in losers triggers anxiety-like behavior, suggesting ancient evolutionary roots for these social disorders.
Area of Science:
- Animal behavior
- Neuroscience
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Dominance hierarchies in mammals are linked to psychological disorders like harassment and anxiety.
- These social dynamics and their consequences are not well understood in invertebrates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if social interactions leading to dominance hierarchies in invertebrates elicit psychological disorders.
- To explore the role of serotonin in anxiety-like behavior in crayfish.
Main Methods:
- Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) dyads were observed in restricted environments to establish dominance.
- Anxiety-like behavior (ALB) in subordinate crayfish was measured and correlated with stress levels.
- Pharmacological interventions using an anxiolytic and a serotonin (5-HT) antagonist were administered.
Main Results:
- Subordinate crayfish exhibited anxiety-like behavior (ALB) correlated with stress intensity during harassment.
- An anxiolytic abolished ALB, confirming its homology to anxiety.
- A serotonin (5-HT) antagonist also reduced ALB, and brain 5-HT levels were significantly higher in losers than winners.
Conclusions:
- Harassment and its anxiogenic consequences appear to have ancient evolutionary origins, present even in invertebrates.
- Crayfish serve as a valuable model for studying the neurobiology of social disorders like harassment and anxiety.
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