Chronic Stress Leads to Decreased Interest in Self-Care

Shay Babich*, Emily N Burrage , Tyler Coblentz , James Frazier , Saina Prabhu , Nate Helwig , Ryan Childers , Randy W Bryner , Jefferson Frisbee , Eric E Kelley , and Paul D Chantler

Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation Category: Health Sciences (Poster Presentation #115)

Student’s Major: Exercise Physiology

Stress can cause many mental health issues such as depression and lack of interest in self-care. The research previously conducted in our lab has shown significant differences between the behavior of mice who have undergone stress, and mice who have not. We examined the effects of the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) paradigm, that begins when the mice reach 18 weeks of age and continues for 8 weeks, 5 days a week. The stressors are randomized and include social stress, damp bedding, no bedding, bath and cage tilt. At the end of the 8 weeks, the mice go through behavior testing such as Sucrose Splash testing. Sucrose Splash tests are completed by placing a mouse in an empty cage, and spraying a small drop of sucrose solution on the back of the mouse, and recording their latency to lick and number of licks over 5 minutes. The sucrose causes the coat of the mouse to be dirty, thus initiating grooming. Sucrose splash data shows that mice that have experienced chronic stress have an increased latency to begin licking than the controls (13.66±13.96s to 5.87±7.18s respectively). Similarly, mice who have experienced chronic stress show a decreased number of licks compared to the controls (29.33±23.58s to 34.13±17.36s respectively). These data suggest that chronic stress causes the loss of interest to practice self-care and grooming.

Funding: Federal Work Study

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course