Abstract
Rats that exhibit a behaviorally inhibited temperament acquire active-avoidance behaviors quicker, and extinguish them slower, than normal outbred rats. Here we explored the contribution of stimuli that signal periods of non-threat (i.e. safety signals) in the process of acquiring active-avoidance behavior. Utilizing a discrete lever-press escape–avoidance protocol, outbred Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats and inbred, behaviorally inhibited, Wistar–Kyoto (WKY) rats were tested under conditions where a flashing light was either presented or not during periods of non-threat (the inter-trial interval, ITI). For males, we found the absence of the ITI-signal slowed the acquisition of avoidance behavior selectively in WKY rats. However, extinction of the avoidance behavior was not influenced by training with or without the ITI-signal; WKY males extinguished slower than SD males. For females, the presence of the ITI-signal did not affect acquisition in either strain. However, after training with the ITI-signal, females of both strains extinguished quicker in its absence than in its presence. In order to determine if facilitated acquisition of avoidance learning in male WKY rats was due to a paradigm-independent influence of the visual stimulus used as ITI-signal upon associative learning, we conducted eyeblink conditioning in the presence or absence of a similar visual stimulus. No differences in acquisition, as a function of this visual stimulus, were observed within the male WKY rats, but, as was observed in avoidance learning, male WKY rats extinguished slower than male SD rats. Thus, avoidance susceptibility for male WKY rats may be tied both to the presence of non-threat signals as well as a resistance to extinguish Pavlovian-conditioned associations. Female susceptibility to resist extinguishing avoidant behavior is discussed with respect to the possible role of stimuli serving as occasion setters for threat contexts.
► Behaviorally inhibited (WKY) and female rats learn avoidance quicker. ► Examined if rats use non-threat signals differently in acquisition or extinction. ► Male WKY rats require non-threat signals to acquire avoidance quicker. ► WKY rats extinguish slower regardless of non-threat signals. ► Non-threat cues may be encoded by females as occasion setters.