THE ELEVATED PLUS-MAZE IS NOT SENSITIVE TO THE EFFECT OF STRESSOR CONTROLLABILITY IN RATS

The present experiments examined the sensitivity of the elevated plus- maze to the effects of stressor controllability. Previous work had est ablished that inescapable but not an equal amount of escapable electri c tail shock reduced social interaction. The present experiments demon strate that prior exposure to shock alters elevated plus-maze behavior , but that this effect is not sensitive to the escapability of the sho ck. These experiments include a replication of the usual pharmacologic effects of benzodiazepine ligands (2 mg/kg diazepam; 0.4 mg/kg methyl ,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate) to demonstrate the sensitivity of the elevated plus-maze procedures used. The results pr ovide additional support for the idea that the social interaction and elevated plus-maze measures of ''anxiety'' are sensitive to different processes.