Time in the central area of the elevated plusmaze correlates with impulsivity-related measures during an operant task

Impulsivity-related measures have been obtained using operant conditioning tasks. Although it has been suggested that impulsivity indices can also be obtained using the elevated plus-maze (EPM), an anxiety-related animal test, no studies have examined the relationship between anxiety-related variables in EPM and impulsivity-related indices obtained during operant conditioning. Correlations between EPM measures and performance in a 60-s fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement (FI 60s) were established in this study. Twenty-four female rats were exposed to the EPM before starting training in the FI 60-s schedule. A positive correlation was found between the percentage of time spent in the central area of the EPM and both the FI efficiency index and the inter-response times. In addition, these three measures were positively correlated within Factor 1 of a factor analysis. No correlations were observed between open-arms measures in EPM and operant performance. These results suggest that time in the central area of the EPM may be a useful index of impulsivity in rodents without a pre-determined trait of impulsivity.

• Tipo de recurso: article
• Fecha de publicación: 2017
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
• Repositorio: Repositorio Universidad Javeriana
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.javeriana.edu.co:10554/33546
• Acceso en línea: http://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/revPsycho/article/view/17054; http://hdl.handle.net/10554/33546
• Rights: openAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional