Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine (UMR5287)

Aquitaine Institute for Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience



INCIA - UMR 5287- CNRS
Université de Bordeaux

Zone nord Bat 2 2ème étage
146, rue Léo Saignat
33076 Bordeaux cedex
France

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CNRS Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Université de Bordeaux

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Social harassment induces anxiety-like behaviour in crayfish by Julien Bacqué-Cazenave, Daniel Cattaert, Jean-Paul Delbecque* and Pascal Fossat*

by Loïc Grattier - published on

Social harassment induces anxiety-like behaviour in crayfish by Julien Bacqué-Cazenave, Daniel Cattaert, Jean-Paul Delbecque* and Pascal Fossat*

Publication date: January 02, 2017 in Scientific Reports

Social interactions leading to dominance hierarchies often elicit psychological disorders in mammals including harassment and anxiety. Here, we demonstrate that this sequence also occurs in an invertebrate, the crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Contrary to winners, losers expressed anxiety-like behaviour (ALB) in correlation with the stress intensity they suffered during the harassment period following loser’s decision to retreat. 5-HT concentrations increased much more in losers than in winners, and mainly during harassment. Injections of an anxiolytic abolished ALB, confirming its homology with anxiety. A serotonin (5-HT) antagonist had the same effect. Our findings suggest that the bases of harassment and of its anxiogenic consequences have emerged very early during evolution, and emphasize crayfish as an unexpected but potentially fruitful model for the study of these social disorders.