Meeting Abstract
P2.109 Friday, Jan. 4 Do non-specific stressors elicit adaptive behavior? BULIN, Sarah E.*; CARR, James A.; Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock; Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock james.carr@ttu.edu
Certain elements of antipredator behavior may be neuronally hardwired and released by key features (eg. visual, olfactory, auditory) of the predator stimulus. But how do animals respond appropriately to novel but potentially threatening situations in the absence of the natural cues that trigger defensive behavior? We have hypothesized that stress hormones may tap into existing hardwired pathways that control antipredator behavior to allow animals to facilitate behavioral decision making in response to novel but threatening stimuli. We compared the behavioral response of juvenile Texas toads (Bufo speciosus) to an ethologically relevant threat (Western hognose snake, Heterodon nasicus; Checkered garter snake, Thamnophis marcianus) versus a non-specific stressor (shaking) that is known to stimulate CRF secretion. We monitored locomotor behavior and the percent of time engaged in defensive behavior. The response to both predators was similar, with toads spending significantly less time remaining stationary and more time engaged in escape behavior in the presence of a predator. Toads exposed to a shaking stressor for 4 hr and then monitored in the absence of a predator exhibited behavior that was qualitatively similar to that observed in response to a predator. Stressed toads spent significantly more time engaged in escape behavior and less time remaining stationary than unstressed animals. Interestingly, defensive behavior was observed in a subset of animals exposed to either predator but was never observed in control or stressed toads. We conclude that exposure to a non-specific stressor elicits a pattern of locomotor behavior similar to that observed in response to an ethologically relevant threat. Supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant through the Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program to TTU.
