Swiss and German scientists conducted experiments on rats and found that the higher the level of anxiety in rodents, the less purposefulness, efficiency, and motivation they have to achieve goals. Naked Science writes about it.
Scientists took two groups of rats: with high and low levels of anxiety. The animals were stressed: they were placed for 15 minutes under bright light, which they are afraid of. After that, the rodents had to press the lever to get a treat - the rats were taught this in advance.
It turned out that animals with high anxiety made less effort to activate the reward system - their performance and motivation fell.
The researchers found that rats from different groups had a different expression of the CRHR1 receptor. It is involved in regulating the level of motivation. In anxious rodents, CRHR1 expression was lower.
The findings of scientists can be used to develop treatments for depression - it, like anxiety, is associated with the expression of CRHR1.
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