ENFORCED WATER DRINKING INDUCES CHANGES IN BURYING BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL-INTERACTION TEST IN RATS

The effect of water deprivation and water intake on experimental anxie ty in rats was tested using burying behavior (BE) and social interacti on (SI) anxiety paradigms. Two groups of animals were studied: a contr ol group with free access to water, and a 72-h water-deprived experime ntal group. Anxiety was studied in a water-deprived group or following a 10-min period of ad lib water drinking. An increase in the mean tim e of defensive burying in animals deprived for 72 h was observed, wher eas an important reduction occurred in the levels of burying behavior immediately after the animals were allowed to drink ad lib for 10 min. These results suggest that the observed increase in defensive burying in the water-deprived animals represents an anxiogenic effect, wherea s the decrease in this behavior in water-satiated animals is considere d an anxiolytic action. The temporal course of reduction in burying be havior, observed after water drinking, revealed that the anxiolytic ac tion lasts 5 min, whereas 15-30 min after drinking, burying behavior l evels were similar to those in the control group. In the social intera ction experiment a partial anxiogenic/anxiolytic effect of water depri vation and water intake was observed. The adaptive meaning of anxiogen ic and anxiolytic changes linked to consummatory behaviors in rats is discussed on the basis of behavioral and biochemical data.