Biomedical subjects

Patrice Venault

Publications and source records attributed to Patrice Venault.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Posture and balance responses to a sensory challenge are related to anxiety in mice.

Anxiety disorders and balance disorders share common clinical features related to perception such as spatial disorientation or dizziness. The search for the mechanism underlying this core of symptoms led us to investigate impairments in multisensory integration. In mice, the 'rotating beam test' allows analysis of changes in balance control and posture in response to a multisensory challenge. We used the BALB/c and C57BL/6 inbred strains of mice, known for their contrasted anxiety-related behavior. The level of anxiety was also manipulated using anxiolytic and anxiogenic pharmacological compounds. Despite equal sensori-motor abilities, anxious mice were more prone to fall off the rotating beam and showed more imbalance than non-anxious mice. Striking inter-strain differences in posture were also observed. Diazepam and beta-CCM reversed these strain-specific responses in opposite directions. We demonstrated that balance and postural strategies developed in response to a multisensory challenge vary as a function of the level of anxiety in mice.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

GABA-A receptor complex and memory processes.

Considerable evidence has been provided these last years for the involvement of the GABAA receptor complex in memory processes. Compounds that enhance the action of GABA, such as benzodiazepines, impair memory processing. On the contrary, compounds that reduce the action of GABA, such as -CCM, pentylenetetrazol or picrotoxin, have the opposite action, that is : enhance memory processing. All these actions seem to focus mainly on the acquisition (learning) processes. Depending on the dose, the same compounds also have effects on anxiety and on seizuring. Benzodiaze-pines are well-known anxiolytic and anticonvulsant agents whereas compounds that reduce the action of GABA have been found to produce anxiogenic and convulsant actions. The GABAA receptor complex might thus be the location of a possible link between a pathological state (epilepsy) and two normal functions (anxiety and learning). This link is likely to involve common genetic pathways. In the normal subject, these data also emphasize the idea that normal memory processing involves a moderate level of anxiety.

Animals↗