Effects of nicotine on target biting and resident-intruder attack
Introduction
Nicotine has been shown to reduce aggressive behaviors in a variety of species and experimental paradigms. In rats, nicotine reduced intraspecific fighting, muricide, and the shock-induced attack of conspecifics (Driscoll, 1979, Rodgers, 1979, Silverman, 1971, Waldbillig, 1980, Redolat et al., 2000, 2002). In cats, nicotine administration also reduced muricide and suppressed aggressive biting attack induced by the muscarinic agonist, arecoline (Berntson et al., 1976). In squirrel monkeys, nicotine reduced the shock-induced biting of a rubber hose (Emley and Hutchinson, 1983) and, in humans, the cigarette smoking of nicotine reduced the frequency of aggressive responses directed toward others Cherek, 1984, Cherek et al., 1991, File et al., 2001. These aggression-reducing effects occurred at doses, which did not alter the subject's sensitivity to shock Rodgers, 1979, Waldbillig, 1980 or the consumption of food (Berntson et al., 1976). Consequently, it appears that the anti-aggressive properties of nicotine are not merely the result of non-specific drug effects (Redolat et al., 2000).
While the above studies represent a wide range of species and experimental procedures, there has been a disproportionate representation of “predation” and “defensive” behaviors with fewer studies investigating “offensive” aggression. Furthermore, systematic attempts to compare the potency of nicotine at reducing “defensive” versus “offensive” aggression in the same set of animals are lacking. Accordingly, the objective of the present studies was to compare the aggression-reducing effects of nicotine in the target biting (defensive) and resident-intruder (offensive) paradigms.
Section snippets
Subjects
Ten adult male, Swiss Webster mice (Charles River Breeders, North Wilmington, DE) were housed individually in a colony room with 12/12 hr light/dark cycle. Twelve additional mice were used as intruders and group housed in clear plastic cages. All mice had free access to food and water throughout the study.
Apparatus
The apparatus has been described in detail elsewhere (Wagner et al., 1983). Briefly, mice were confined in an opaque, plastic cylinder (2.8 cm inner diameter; 9.8 cm long). Their tails were
Target biting
Under baseline (saline) conditions, mice exhibited three distinct rates of target biting behavior. There was a high target biting rate (13.5 ± 3.8 bites per 15 sec) immediately after the shock (bin 1), an intermediate rate (9.6 ± 4.1 bites per 15 sec) during the inter-shock interval (bins 2–7), and a low target biting rate (1.0 ± 0.5 bite per 15 sec) during the tone CS (bin 8) (Fig. 1). Nonparametric sign tests indicated that the post-shock (bin 1) target biting rate was significantly greater
Discussion
Target biting at three distinguishable rates was engendered by the presentation of a tail shock (to confined mice) on a fixed-time schedule with a tone CS signalling the impending shock. These observations are in agreement with previously published reports Carelli and Wagner, 1988, Jarvis et al., 1985, Wagner et al., 1983 and have been traditionally interpreted as a measure of “defensive” aggression (see Blanchard and Blanchard, 1984, Hutchinson, 1984 for two perspectives). Nicotine
Conclusion
The presession administration of nicotine caused dose-dependent reductions in shock-induced target biting as well as resident attack of an intruder. Nicotine was 3.8 times more potent at reducing attack behavior in the former as compared to the latter paradigm. These observations may indicate that nicotine is more effective at reducing defensive as compared to offensive aggression.
Acknowledgments
Supported in part by ES-05022, ES-11256, NS-43981, and grants from Johnson and Johnson and the Charles and Johanna Bush Memorial Fund.
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2014, Experimental NeurologyCitation Excerpt :Although the epidemiological literature reported associations between maternal smoking and aggression in children, the animal literature has not explored this relationship in detail. In adult animals, acute nicotine administration was found to decrease aggressive behavior in a variety of paradigms (Driscoll and Baettig, 1981; Silverman, 1971), including the resident–intruder task (Johnson et al., 2003), which is supported by a study in humans (Cherek, 1984). The data reported here appear to be the first in the published literature reporting that prenatal exposure of an animal to CS results in increased aggression in the offspring, as evidenced by an increased number of attacks by CS-exposed offspring.