Exposure to Low (10 cGy) doses of ⁴He Ions Leads to an Apparent Increase in Risk Taking Propensity in Female Rats

Authors

Nina Li, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Simran Phuyal, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Elliot Smits, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Faith E. Reid, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Ella N. Tamgue, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Paola Alvarado Arriaga, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Richard A. Britten, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion UniversityFollow

ORCID

0000-0002-6919-5753 (Britten)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

DOI

10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115182

Publication Title

Behavioural Brain Research

Volume

474

Pages

115182 (1-7)

Abstract

The planned missions to the Moon and Mars will present more significant health challenges to astronauts compared to low earth orbit missions. During deep space missions, astronauts will be constantly exposed to Space radiation (SR). Multiple rodent studies suggest that < 25 cGy of SR impairs performance in executive functions, which play a key role in advanced cognitive processes, but also regulate response inhibition and impulse control. There is the possibility that SR exposure may exacerbate aberrant behaviors evoked by psychological stress related to exposure to isolated and confined (ICE) hostile environment or independently induce additional aberrant behaviors. This study has determined that female Wistar rats exposed to 10 cGy of 250 MeV/n He had an increased risk taking propensity (RTP)\compared to shams. The increased RTP of the He-exposed rats was associated with significantly increased reaction times during the trials, suggesting a SR-induced loss of processing speed. The response times of the He-exposed rats were even further reduced in trials that immediately followed a loss, raising the possibility that conflict and interference avoidance may be impaired after SR exposure. Whether these findings occur following other types of SR exposure, and/or in male rats remains to be determined.

Rights

© 2024 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

Data Availability

Article states: "Data will be made available on request."

Original Publication Citation

Li, N., Phuyal, S., Smits, E., Reid, F. E., Tamgue, E. N., Arriaga, P. A., & Britten, R. A. (2024). Exposure to low (10cGy) doses of ⁴He ions leads to an apparent increase in risk taking propensity in female rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 474, 1-7, Article 115182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115182

Repository Citation

Li, N., Phuyal, S., Smits, E., Reid, F. E., Tamgue, E. N., Arriaga, P. A., & Britten, R. A. (2024). Exposure to low (10cGy) doses of ⁴He ions leads to an apparent increase in risk taking propensity in female rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 474, 1-7, Article 115182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115182