CHRONIC MILD STRESS: AN EXPERIMENT ABOUT THE INTERACTION AMONG SUBMISSION TO STRESS PROTOCOL, OPERANT BEHAVIOR AND DEPRIVATION

Abstract

Chronic mild stress (CMS) is an experimental model that attempts to study the effects of the exposition to these stressors in the subjects’ behavior. In the present experiment, the purpose was to identify if whole protocol, and not some of the stressor stimuli specifically (water and food deprivation) is responsible for producing the effects frequently described in literature (decreased sweet substance ingestion and preference when submitted to the protocol). It was also verified the influence of operant concurrent schedule sessions (water-sucrose) in the effects considered. The results were described on sucrose ingestion and preference. Deprivation itself and incomplete protocol (with no deprivation conditions) produced effects on sucrose preference and ingestion. Besides, there was difference in sucrose ingestion between subjects submitted to the operant condition and subjects that did not go this condition (the ingestion showed to be greater for the first ones). According to these results, there are two possible suggestions: (a) neonatal handling can be responsible for the inexistency of the common effects of the protocol in the subjects’ behavior; and (b) the continuous exposure to sucrose can have similar effects to analgesia, making it possible that effects of the protocol are not produced.Keywords: stress protocol, deprivation, operant behavior, neonatal handling, exposure to sucrose.