Effect of type and controllability of stress on feeding behavior in rats

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of two types of stress, chronic or acute, in either controlled or uncontrolled situations, on body weight, food, and water consumption in rats. Acute stress consisted of two sessions of 60 electric shocks and chronic in 12 sessions of 10 shocks. Subjects exposed to the controllable situation could finished the shock with a specific response, and the group uncontrollable was yoked to the uncontrollable group. Control group was kept in its box-room. The results were: reduction of the body weight during exposure to acute stress and a slowdown in the rate of body weight increase during chronic stress, as well as a reduction in the consumption of both food and water during exposure to both acute and chronic stress. The effects observed with chronic stress were more evident robust in males than in females. There were no differences between groups exposed to controllable and uncontrollable stress. These results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis of regulatory change and behavioral ecology.