Social behavior of rats with different predispositions to audiogenic epilepsy before and after repeated sound stimulation

Epilepsy is often accompanied by psycho-emotional disorders, the most common of which are anxiety disorders, depression and conditions leading to impaired social interaction. This study investigates the social behavior of rats with different predispositions to audiogenic epilepsy: Krushinsky-Molodkina (KM) rats with high sensitivity to sound and “0” rats selected from a population of F2 hybrids of the KM rats and Wistar rats, insensitive to sound stimulation, for the absence of audiogenic epilepsy. The results demonstrate social behavior impairments in both intact “0” rats and intact KM rats. The “0” rats in the social tests showed interest in social stimuli but did not prefer the new stimulus to the old one, while the KM rats showed no social preference, nor interest in social novelty. After repeated sound stimulation (audiogenic kindling), KM rats developed myoclonic seizures, paralleled by aggravation of social deficits, while the social behavior of “0” rats, resistant to the seizure provocations, did not significantly change. 

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