Aging Regulation Research Group, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e44475. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044475. Epub 2012 Sep 5.
A devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, followed by several long and intense aftershocks. Laboratory mice housed in the Tokyo, located approximately 330 km south of this earthquake's epicenter, displayed remarkable changes in a variety of behaviors and physiological measures. Although unusual pre-earthquake behaviors have been previously reported in laboratory animals, little is known about behavioral and physiological changes that occur after a great earthquake. In the present study, the effects of Tohoku earthquake on mice behavior were investigated. "Earthquake-experienced" mice displayed a marked increase in food consumption without gaining body weight in response to the earthquake. They also displayed enhanced anxiety, and in a formal fear memory task, showed significantly greater tone- and context-dependent conditioned freezing. Water maze performance of earthquake-experienced mice showed the quicker acquisition of the task, faster swim speed and longer swim distance than the naive mice. Serum corticosterone levels were elevated compared to the naive mice, indicating that the earthquake and aftershocks were stressful for the mice. These results demonstrate that great earthquakes strongly affect mouse behaviors and physiology. Although the effects of a variety of experimental manipulations on mouse behaviors in disease models or in models of higher cognitive functions have been extensively examined, researchers need to be aware how natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and perhaps other natural environmental factors, influence laboratory animal behaviors and physiology.
2011 年 3 月 11 日，日本发生了一场毁灭性的地震和海啸，随后又发生了多次长时间、高强度的余震。位于震中以南约 330 公里的东京的实验小鼠表现出多种行为和生理指标的显著变化。尽管以前曾在实验动物中报告过不寻常的震前行为，但对于大地震后发生的行为和生理变化知之甚少。在本研究中，研究了东北地震对小鼠行为的影响。“经历过地震”的小鼠表现出明显的食物消耗增加，但体重没有增加，这是对地震的反应。它们还表现出焦虑增强，在正式的恐惧记忆任务中，表现出明显更强的与音调相关的和与情境相关的条件性冻结。经历过地震的小鼠在水迷宫任务中的表现显示出更快地完成任务，游泳速度更快，游泳距离更长，而与未经历过地震的小鼠相比。与未经历过地震的小鼠相比，血清皮质酮水平升高，表明地震和余震对小鼠造成了压力。这些结果表明，大地震强烈影响小鼠的行为和生理。尽管已经广泛研究了各种实验操作对疾病模型或更高认知功能模型中小鼠行为的影响，但研究人员需要意识到，像地震和其他自然环境因素这样的自然现象如何影响实验动物的行为和生理。
