The Effect of Forced and Voluntary Exercises as a Non-Pharmacologic Factor on Modified Behaviors Due to Stress of Separation from Mother in Wistar Rats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the positive effects of forced andvoluntary exercises as a non-pharmacological factor on modified behaviorsdue to stress of separation from mother. In the present study, 48 male babyrats were selected and separated from their mothers from day 2 to 14 for 180minutes. On the 21st day, these rats were randomly divided into 4 groups.The groups included maternal stress, control, treadmill, running wheel (RW).The first group experienced stress of separation from their mothers from day2 to 14 and the control group was kept from the beginning with theirmothers. The exercise groups also began to exercise since their 21st birthday. Then, the groups conducted behavioral anxiety and rodent depressiontests including EPM, Splash, FST, and Open Field. The obtained data werestatistically analyzed by t and ANOVA methods at a significance level(P<0.05). Behavioral tests showed that the stress of separation from themother caused depression behaviors. On the other hand, voluntary exercisecaused antidepressant effects compared with the stress group while nosignificant changes were observed between the effect of forced exercise andthe stress group. The results showed that exercise, especially voluntaryexercise, reduces stress during adolescence, and reduces depression andanxiety behaviors in adulthood.

Keywords

• anxiety
• depression
• forced exercise
• voluntary exercise