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THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL STRESS ON VOLUNTARY RUNNING BEHAVIOR IN FEMALE MICE

C Cattell
S Coste

Abstract

C. Cattell, S. Coste

Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

PURPOSE: Regular physical activity (PA) is well known to positively impact physical and mental health outcomes. However, there is a reciprocal relationship between these variables wherein stress significantly reduces healthy levels of routine PA. We showed previously that voluntary running behavior of male mice essentially ceases following exposure to a resident-intruder social stress that models human post traumatic stress outcomes. Here we sought to determine whether stress-induced inhibition of habitual voluntary running occurs in female mice. METHODS: Five week old, C67BL/6J female mice were divided into four groups (n=8/group); sedentary/control, voluntary running/control, sedentary/stress and voluntary running/stress. Voluntary running groups were given 24 hr unlimited access to a running wheel in the home cage for 9 weeks. Mice ran a nightly average of 6.86 ± 2.5 km. During the 9thweek, stress groups were exposed to a single, 6 hr bout of a female specific, resident-intruder social stress. RESULTS: Plasma corticosterone significantly increased following stress (34.56 ± 13 ng/ml basal to 330.5 ± 95 ng/ml immediately post stress) while nightly running dropped significantly to 1.72 ± 0.9 km. Unlike male mice where running levels were slow to recover, voluntary running in these female mice returned to near normal levels by the second night (5.01 ± 2.5 km). CONCLUSION: This study shows the sensitivity of habitual running behavior to stress exposure and suggest the utility of this mouse model in exploring the means by which stress negatively impacts routine PA.

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