Thigmotaxis in a virtual human open field test
Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259850
- Animal models are used to study neurobiological mechanisms in mental disorders. Although there has been significant progress in the understanding of neurobiological underpinnings of threat-related behaviors and anxiety, little progress was made with regard to new or improved treatments for mental disorders. A possible reason for this lack of success is the unknown predictive and cross-species translational validity of animal models used in preclinical studies. Re-translational approaches, therefore, seek to establish cross-species translationalAnimal models are used to study neurobiological mechanisms in mental disorders. Although there has been significant progress in the understanding of neurobiological underpinnings of threat-related behaviors and anxiety, little progress was made with regard to new or improved treatments for mental disorders. A possible reason for this lack of success is the unknown predictive and cross-species translational validity of animal models used in preclinical studies. Re-translational approaches, therefore, seek to establish cross-species translational validity by identifying behavioral operations shared across species. To this end, we implemented a human open field test in virtual reality and measured behavioral indices derived from animal studies in three experiments (N=31, N=30, and N=80). In addition, we investigated the associations between anxious traits and such behaviors. Results indicated a strong similarity in behavior across species, i.e., participants in our study-like rodents in animal studies-preferred to stay in the outer region of the open field, as indexed by multiple behavioral parameters. However, correlational analyses did not clearly indicate that these behaviors were a function of anxious traits of participants. We conclude that the realized virtual open field test is able to elicit thigmotaxis and thus demonstrates cross-species validity of this aspect of the test. Modulatory effects of anxiety on human open field behavior should be examined further by incorporating possible threats in the virtual scenario and/or by examining participants with higher anxiety levels or anxiety disorder patients.…
Author: | Daniel Gromer, Dominik P. Kiser, Paul Pauli |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259850 |
Document Type: | Journal article |
Faculties: | Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Psychologie |
Language: | English |
Parent Title (English): | Scientific Reports |
Year of Completion: | 2021 |
Volume: | 11 |
Pagenumber: | 6670 |
Source: | Scientific Reports (2021) 11:6670. DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-85678-5 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85678-5 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
Tag: | anciety-like behavior; anxiety; approach-avoidance conflict; circuits; elevated plus-maze; fear; human behavior; mental disorders; metaanalysis; reality; spatial navigation; threat |
Release Date: | 2022/03/26 |
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2021 | |
Licence (German): | CC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International |