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Modeling Anger-Like Responses in Animals: Denial of Food in Sight

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Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence

Abstract

In spite of the profound impact anger has on human life, the underlying mechanisms are not clear. While the reasons for this gap in knowledge may be traced to the nonavailability of a suitable animal model, protocols aimed at generating anger-like emotions in rats have been tested. Hungry rats were allowed to see and smell food, but were denied access. These animals showed vigorous motor activity to obtain the food and intense biting behavior. The number of bites was considered as a measure of anger-like response. Concomitantly, the animals showed an increase in their blood pressure, heart rate, and plasma nor-epinephrine, the hallmark of anger. The biting behavior was correlated with increased neuronal activity in discrete components of the limbic system. Pharmacological interventions and analytical data suggested the role of serotonergic system in the modulation of anger-like behavior. The model may pave way to understanding the neural basis of anger.

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Abbreviations

3V:

Third ventricle

5-HIAA :

5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid

5-HT :

5-Hydroxytryptamine

8-OHDPAT:

8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin

aCSF:

Artificial cerebrospinal fluid

AHC:

Central part of the anterior hypothalamus

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

Aq :

Aqueduct

ARC :

Arcuate nucleus

AUC:

Area under the curve

BAC :

Biting activity chamber

BLA :

Basolateral amygdala

BP :

Blood pressure

bpm:

Beats per minute

CeA:

Central nucleus of amygdala

D3V :

Dorsal third ventricle

DG :

Dentate gyrus

GABA :

Gamma aminobutyric acid

HPLC-ECD :

High-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detector

HR :

Heart rate

ICV :

Intracerebroventricular

ip :

Intraperitoneal

IR :

Infrared

LV :

Lateral ventricle

MeA :

Medial nucleus of the amygdala

ML :

Medial lemniscus

mmHg:

Millimeter of mercury

NE :

Nor-epinephrine

opt :

Optic tract

PAG :

Periaqueductal gray

PFC :

Prefrontal cortex

PVN :

Hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus

PVT :

Paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus

RRC :

Roller rotation chamber

SEM:

Standard error of the mean

SN :

Substantia nigra

VMH :

Ventromedial nucleus of hypothalamus

VTA :

Ventral tegmental area

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Satyajit Rath, Aurnab Ghose, and Yash Bhatt for critical reading of the manuscript. The work was supported by grants from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) (CRG/2020/004971), Govt. of India, New Delhi, India. BBD acknowledges the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (MAHAJYOTI), Nagpur, for providing junior research fellowship [MAHAJYOTI/Nag./Fellowship/2021-22/1042 (352)] and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for providing senior research fellowship (2021-15699/F1).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India

    Nishikant K. Subhedar

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

    Biru B. Dudhabhate & Dadasaheb M. Kokare

Authors
  1. Nishikant K. Subhedar
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  2. Biru B. Dudhabhate
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  3. Dadasaheb M. Kokare
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clinical and Applied Health Research, University of Hull, Hull, UK

    Colin Martin

  2. King's College London, London, UK

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. University of Westminster, London, UK

    Vinood B. Patel

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Subhedar, N.K., Dudhabhate, B.B., Kokare, D.M. (2022). Modeling Anger-Like Responses in Animals: Denial of Food in Sight. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_143-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_143-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4

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