Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats
Abstract The effects of social isolation (SI) during middle age remain unclear, so we tested the hypothesis that SI would lead to an increase in impulsive choice (IC), anxiety‐like behavior, and metabolic dysfunction in middle‐aged rats. Male and female rats were housed individually or in groups of...
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Physiological Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70184 |
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| author | Jassmyn J. Venegas Jacob M. Weisz Chan Young Choi Ren E. Herringshaw Omar A. Nabelsi Nu‐Chu Liang |
| author_facet | Jassmyn J. Venegas Jacob M. Weisz Chan Young Choi Ren E. Herringshaw Omar A. Nabelsi Nu‐Chu Liang |
| author_sort | Jassmyn J. Venegas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The effects of social isolation (SI) during middle age remain unclear, so we tested the hypothesis that SI would lead to an increase in impulsive choice (IC), anxiety‐like behavior, and metabolic dysfunction in middle‐aged rats. Male and female rats were housed individually or in groups of four with same‐sex housing mates at 11 months of age. Two months later, IC behavior was assessed using a delay‐discounting task and anxiety‐like behavior through a novelty‐suppressed feeding (NSF) task. Lastly, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity following exposure to a high‐fat diet were assessed using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and an insulin tolerance test (ITT). The results showed that socially isolated rats displayed more IC behavior than did group‐housed rats of both sexes. However, no significant effect of housing was evident in the NSF task, OGTT, or ITT. Male rats had a higher plasma insulin concentration and insulin resistance index compared to females. Our findings demonstrate that SI in middle age is sufficient to increase IC behavior and highlight inherent sex‐specific differences in metabolic profiles. These findings underscore the importance of investigating mechanisms that underlie the effects of social isolation during different stages of life. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e0154ce2c9b74000a301cb9fc8f8d708 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2051-817X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physiological Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-e0154ce2c9b74000a301cb9fc8f8d7082025-01-27T13:49:52ZengWileyPhysiological Reports2051-817X2025-01-01132n/an/a10.14814/phy2.70184Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged ratsJassmyn J. Venegas0Jacob M. Weisz1Chan Young Choi2Ren E. Herringshaw3Omar A. Nabelsi4Nu‐Chu Liang5Department of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USADepartment of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USADepartment of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USADepartment of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USADepartment of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USADepartment of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USAAbstract The effects of social isolation (SI) during middle age remain unclear, so we tested the hypothesis that SI would lead to an increase in impulsive choice (IC), anxiety‐like behavior, and metabolic dysfunction in middle‐aged rats. Male and female rats were housed individually or in groups of four with same‐sex housing mates at 11 months of age. Two months later, IC behavior was assessed using a delay‐discounting task and anxiety‐like behavior through a novelty‐suppressed feeding (NSF) task. Lastly, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity following exposure to a high‐fat diet were assessed using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and an insulin tolerance test (ITT). The results showed that socially isolated rats displayed more IC behavior than did group‐housed rats of both sexes. However, no significant effect of housing was evident in the NSF task, OGTT, or ITT. Male rats had a higher plasma insulin concentration and insulin resistance index compared to females. Our findings demonstrate that SI in middle age is sufficient to increase IC behavior and highlight inherent sex‐specific differences in metabolic profiles. These findings underscore the importance of investigating mechanisms that underlie the effects of social isolation during different stages of life.https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70184impulsive choiceinsulin resistancemetabolic functionmiddle agesocial isolation |
| spellingShingle | Jassmyn J. Venegas Jacob M. Weisz Chan Young Choi Ren E. Herringshaw Omar A. Nabelsi Nu‐Chu Liang Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats Physiological Reports impulsive choice insulin resistance metabolic function middle age social isolation |
| title | Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats |
| title_full | Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats |
| title_fullStr | Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats |
| title_short | Social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle‐aged rats |
| title_sort | social isolation increases impulsive choice with minor changes on metabolic function in middle aged rats |
| topic | impulsive choice insulin resistance metabolic function middle age social isolation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70184 |
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