Interplay Between Brain Stress Markers and Cognito-Motor Behaviour and Coordination in Starvation- Induced Stress in Rats

Olorunfemi O.J., Bohr E.L.S., Okosiemiama S.C., Okopido I.S, Okpe E.
Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT
The impact of stress (which is a common daily occurrence) is strongly influenced by the type and duration of the stressor. The study was done to ascertain the effects of starvation-induced stress on cognito-motor behavior and coordination and also its effect on brain stress metabolites in rats usingsome neurobehavioral tasks such as Navigational maze task, Beam walking task, elevated maze task and Hand grip test. Twenty five male albino wistar rats after two weeks of acclimatization, were weighed and randomly divided into five groups (groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) of five rats in each group. While group 1 is the control group, group 2 were given caffeine. Group 3 received epinephrine which was administered intraperitoneally. Group 4 received dopamine and group 5 were starved. Results on cognitive assessment showed groups treated with catecholamine demonstrated improved cognitive responses compared to the groups treated with glucose and caffeine. The results further showed that cognito-motor coordination and balance were significantly (p<0.05) affected by starvation-induced stress noticed in the starvation. All forms of stress demonstrated a significant (p<0.05) anti-anxiolytic effect. In other words, some forms of stress can be necessary adaptive measures for survival and with only transient changes within the brain while others can inflict detrimental changes in the brain structure and function.
Keywords: Starvation-induced stress, cognito-motor behavior, navigational maze task, beam walking task.