Behavioral Changes Induced in Rats by Exposure to Trimethylthiazoline, a Component of Fox Odor

• Published in: Behavioral neuroscience Vol. 119; no. 4; pp. 1004 - 1010
• Main Authors: Endres, Thomas, Apfelbach, Raimund, Fendt, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-08-2005
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - methods; Affectivity. Emotion; Analysis of Variance; Animal; Animal behavior; Animal Ethology; Animals; Appetitive Behavior - drug effects; Appetitive Behavior - physiology; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Conditioning, Operant - drug effects; Conditioning, Operant - physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Fear; Fear & phobias; Feces; Foxes; Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - drug effects; Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Male; Mammalia; Motor Activity - drug effects; Motor Activity - physiology; Odor Discrimination; Odorants; Odors; Olfactory Perception; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reflex, Startle - physiology; Reflex, Startle - radiation effects; Rodents; Thiazoles - pharmacology; Vertebrata; startle; appetitive behavior; predator odor; freezing; trimethylthiazoline; Predator prey relation; Rat; Rodentia; Behavior change; Exposure; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Olfaction; Perception; Behavior; Predation; Odor
• ISSN: 0735-7044; 1939-0084
• DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.1004

Trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a component of fox feces, has been used in various studies as a natural predator stimulus to induce autonomic and behavioral signs of fear (e.g., higher levels of stress hormones, freezing, and risk assessment). The present study investigated whether 2 further behavioral signs of fear are induced in rats by TMT exposure: potentiation of the acoustic startle response and inhibition of appetitive behavior. In addition, the authors tested the rats for dose dependency of TMT-induced freezing behavior. The study confirmed that behavioral changes observed during TMT exposure are caused by TMT-induced fear and are dose dependent.