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PubMed2002

Health implications of animal hoarding.

Animal hoarding is a poorly understood phenomenon, the public health implications of which are not well documented. In this study, professionals dealing with hoarding cases submitted 71 case report forms. The hoarders' residences were characterized by extreme clutter and poor sanitation that impaired ability to maintain functional households. Appliances and utilities were frequently nonfunctional, and animal excrement sometimes accumulated to the extent that the homes were unfit for human habitation. The majority of cases satisfied criteria for adult self-neglect, and dependent elderly people, children, or disabled individuals were present in many of the residences. Animal hoarding may be a sentinel for a range of medical, social, and economic problems. More research addressing the causes and features of animal hoarding is needed to shed light on appropriate interventions.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Obsessive-compulsive hoarding: symptom severity and response to multimodal treatment.

BACKGROUND: Compulsive hoarding and saving symptoms, found in many patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), are part of a clinical syndrome that has been associated with poor response to medications and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). We sought to determine whether patients with the compulsive hoarding syndrome had more severe symptoms and functional impairment than nonhoarding OCD patients and whether they would respond to intensive, multimodal treatment previously found to be effective for treatment-refractory OCD. METHOD: We studied 190 consecutive patients with DSM-IV OCD treated openly for approximately 6 weeks with intensive CBT, medication, and psychosocial rehabilitation in a partial hospitalization program for severely ill OCD patients. Twenty of the 190 patients (11%) were identified as having the compulsive hoarding syndrome. All patients were assessed before and after treatment with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A). and Global Assessment Scale (GAS). We compared the symptom severity and response to treatment of compulsive hoarders versus nonhoarding OCD patients. RESULTS: Compulsive hoarders were significantly older than nonhoarders (p < .001). Hoarders had significantly lower GAS scores and higher HAM-A scores than nonhoarders both before (p = .04) and after (p = .002) treatment, but had similar pretreatment YBOCS scores. Both groups improved significantly with treatment as assessed by YBOCS score (p < .001), but nonhoarders had significantly greater decreases in YBOCS scores than hoarders (p = .02). CONCLUSION: While the compulsive hoarding syndrome appears to be a distinct, more disabling, variant of OCD that does not respond as robustly to treatment, it may still improve significantly with intensive, multimodal treatment tailored to its specific features and associated deficits.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Hoarding as a psychiatric symptom.

Collecting is a normal behavior in childhood and adulthood, while hoarding--the gathering, ordering, and disposal of articles without clear conscious motivation or control--is characterized as the pathologic counterpart of collecting. The literature describing the characteristics of collecting and the theories concerning its underlying mechanisms is presented along with eight case studies of adults who exhibited hoarding as a prominent symptom. It is apparent that hoarding is the final common pathway for a variety of processes: compulsive hoarding in obsessive compulsive disorder, fears of theft and poisoning in paranoid delusions, and the deterioration of habits in organic mental disorder.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Variations in hoarding behavior following regional hippocampal lesions in rats.

Instinctual behaviors of feeding (food intake) and hoarding (HS) so also the body weight and estrus cycles (EI) were studied before and after discrete bilateral electrolytic lesions of dorsal hippocampus in female rats. Following the lesions, there was significant increase in food intake, body weight, hoarding score and disruption of 4-5 days estrus cycles with EI of more than one, as compared to the control (prelesioned) period and the sham operated rats. Lesions of ventral hippocampus in the earlier study (Indian J exp Biol, 26 (1988) 53) had shown a significant decrease in hoarding thus suggesting a differential role of the hippocampus probably mediated through the amygdala and/or hypothalamus both of which either alone or together exert a more direct and pivotal control in the feeding and hoarding behaviour.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Role of ovarian hormones on hoarding in rats--feedback mechanism.

The adult female rats hoard large quantities of food during proestrus and continue hoarding if ovariectomised at proestrus (Group I). The hoarding score is lowest in diestrus and continue to remain low if ovariectomised during this phase (Group II). The scores in Group I and Group II are reversed in intracerebral administration of Progesterone and Estradiol Benzoate respectively into preoptic areas. The significance of the response is discussed on the basis of built-in feedback mechanism for hoarding cyclicity.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Distinct neural correlates of washing, checking, and hoarding symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

CONTEXT: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is clinically heterogeneous, yet most previous functional neuroimaging studies grouped together patients with mixed symptoms, thus potentially reducing the power and obscuring the findings of such studies. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the neural correlates of washing, checking, and hoarding symptom dimensions in OCD. DESIGN: Symptom provocation paradigm, functional magnetic resonance imaging, block design, and nonparametric brain mapping analyses. SETTING: University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Sixteen patients with OCD (11 inpatients, 5 outpatients) with mixed symptoms and 17 healthy volunteers of both sexes. Intervention All subjects participated in 4 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments. They were scanned while viewing alternating blocks of emotional (washing-related, checking-related, hoarding-related, or aversive, symptom-unrelated) and neutral pictures, and imagining scenarios related to the content of each picture type.Main Outcome Measure Blood oxygenation level-dependent response. RESULTS: Both patients and control subjects experienced increased subjective anxiety during symptom provocation (patients significantly more so) and activated neural regions previously linked to OCD. Analyses of covariance, controlling for depression, showed a distinct pattern of activation associated with each symptom dimension. Patients demonstrated significantly greater activation than controls in bilateral ventromedial prefrontal regions and right caudate nucleus (washing); putamen/globus pallidus, thalamus, and dorsal cortical areas (checking); left precentral gyrus and right orbitofrontal cortex (hoarding); and left occipitotemporal regions (aversive, symptom-unrelated). These results were further supported by correlation analyses within patients, which showed highly specific positive associations between subjective anxiety, questionnaire scores, and neural response in each experiment. There were no consistently significant differences between patients with (n = 9) and without (n = 7) comorbid diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that different obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions are mediated by relatively distinct components of frontostriatothalamic circuits implicated in cognitive and emotion processing. Obsessive-compulsive disorder may be best conceptualized as a spectrum of multiple, potentially overlapping syndromes rather than a unitary nosologic entity.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Differential effect of lipopolysaccharide on food hoarding behavior and food consumption in rats.

Experimental studies assessing the suppressing effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on feeding behavior have focused exclusively on the ingestive component of this behaviour without taking into account its appetitive component. The appetitive sequence of feeding behavior regroups activities animals engage in to gain access to food without necessarily eating it. The objective of the present study was to compare the effects of LPS on food intake and food hoarding. Rats were given the possibility to access food during a 30-min daily session in an apparatus consisting of a cage connected to an alley with free food at its end. Subjects were tested under different motivational levels for food hoarding: a first group (FS) received a food supplement to maintain stable body weight while a second group (noFS) did not receive such a supplement. LPS (250 micrograms/kg i.p.) dramatically decreased total food intake in rats from both groups whereas food hoarding was much less affected in LPS-treated rats from the noFS group. This expression of a still salient secondary motivation in LPS-treated rats which did not receive any food supplement can be interpreted to suggest the expression of an anticipatory feeding behavior along with a reduced immediate appetite. In addition, LPS had no effect, in rats from the noFS group, on the amount of food eaten after transport to the refuge. LPS-treated animals still appear to be able to adjust their defensive behavioral strategies with regard to their needs and capacities. These findings support the adaptive value of the behavioral changes displayed by LPS-treated animals.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Body-weight regulatory mechanisms and food hoarding in hereditarily obese (fa/fa) and lean (Fa/Fa) Zucker rats.

Pre- and postprandial rectal temperatures and the defended level of body weight, as inferred from the critical body weight for the onset of hoarding behaviour, were compared in obese (fa/fa) and lean (Fa/Fa) Zucker rats. Body temperatures of the obese group were not significantly lower than those of the lean group, whether satiated or whether subjected to short- or long-term food deprivation. Defended body weights as inferred from the critical weights for hoarding, and the actual weights of the obese (fa/fa) rats were both abnormally high, nearly double those of their lean controls, but the percentage weight losses necessary to elicit hoarding activity were similar in the two groups. Thus the mechanism underlying the obesity of the Zucker rat appears to differ both from that of the hereditarily obese (ob/ob) mouse (which shows defective thermogenesis and is hypothermic) and from the obesity of rats with hypothalamic ventromedial lesions (in which the defended body weight is no higher than in intact controls). Unlike the ob/ob mouse and the ventromedial rat, the obese Zucker rat appears to regulate body weight in a normal way but at an abnormally high level.

Animals↗

PubMed1984

Effects of stereoisomers of estradiol on food intake, body weight and hoarding behavior in female rats.

The effects of 17-alpha and 17-beta estradiol on food intake, body weight and hoarding behavior in ovariectomised rats were investigated. For five days, ten animals received subcutaneous injections of both isomers (10 micrograms/kg/day) in a counterbalanced design. Hoarding tests were conducted on the last three days of each 5-day injection period. 17-Alpha estradiol significantly reduced food intake but was without effect on body weight. 17-Beta estradiol reduced food intake significantly more than the alpha form and also significantly reduced body weight. These differential effects suggest that stereoisomers of estradiol may be acting on separate regulatory systems. The treatments did not change hoarding activity compared to pre-treatment levels.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Impaired hoarding and olfactory learning in DSP-4-treated rats and control cagemates.

The possibility that variables affecting rats' home-cage odor preferences also influence hoarding behavior was examined. Neonatal male rats were injected SC with the noradrenergic neurotoxin, N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4), or with vehicle. At weaning, rats were assigned to control-only, DSP-4-only, or mixed groups of DSP-4 and control rats. For the next 10 days, half the rats in each social condition were housed in cedar shavings, and remaining rats were housed in pine. Exposure to cedar significantly increased preference for the odor in control-only groups, but not in DSP-4-only or mixed treatment groups. Control-only groups also hoarded significantly more pellets per animal than rats in the other two social conditions. The results suggest that both olfactory adaptation and hoarding can be impaired by either neonatal NE depletion or an abnormal social environment.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Linguistic analogies and behavior: the finite-state behavioral grammar of food-hoarding in hamsters.

Rodger and Rosebrugh (1979) developed a method for identifying sets of rules by which discrete responses are combined to form functional sequences of behavior. In the present study, this so-called finite-state behavioral grammar method was used to analyze the food-hoarding behavior of Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Specifically, it was used to analyze 127 videotaped food-hoarding sequences that were observed in 14 male, adult hamsters in an apparatus that comprised a home compartment, a foraging area, and a connecting tunnel. An integral part of grammar derivation is the development of hypotheses about the function of the observed response patterns to guide the grammar derivation. Two such hypotheses guided the present analysis: first, we hypothesized that behaviors observed in the foraging area after the hamsters' cheek pouches were filled served an exploratory function; second, we hypothesized that behaviors observed in the home compartment prior to the hamsters emptying their cheeck pouches served to assess potential food deposition sites. In addition to generating these two hypotheses and the grammars for the hoarding sequences, this study demonstrates how the finite-state grammar method can be used as a productive means of gaining insights into the organization of consummatory response sequences.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding symptoms: a distinctive clinical subtype?

We investigated whether patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding symptoms can be differentiated from their counterparts with other types of obsessions and compulsions in terms of sociodemographic and clinical features. Ninety-seven patients with OCD were assessed with a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS), and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Fifteen patients who reported hoarding symptoms in the Y-BOCS checklist (15.6% of the total sample) were compared and contrasted with 82 patients without those symptoms using the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables and the Pearson's goodness-of-fit chi-square test for categorical ones; Fisher's exact test was employed when indicated. Hoarders were characterized by (1) higher educational levels (chi(2) = 7.49; df = 2; P =.02); (2) earlier age at onset (Z = -2.99; P =.003); (3) higher rates of symmetry obsessions (chi(2) = 7.03; df = 1; P =.01); (4) greater frequency of ordering (chi(2) = 10.08; df = 1; P =.004); (5) rituals repetition (chi(2) = 4.42; df = 1; P =.03); (6) counting compulsions (chi(2) = 5.92; df = 1; P =.02); and (7) significantly higher rates of comorbidity with bipolar II disorder (chi(2) = 10.62; df = 1; P =.02) and (8) with eating disorders (chi(2) = 7.42; df = 1; P =.02). In conclusion, patients with OCD exhibiting hoarding feature a distinctive sociodemographic and clinical profile. It remains to be investigated whether these phenotypical characteristics are underlined by specific neurobiological mechanisms.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

High sensitivity to punishment and low impulsivity in obsessive-compulsive patients with hoarding symptoms.

Recent factor-analytic studies involving over 2000 patients have reduced the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) into a few dimensions or potentially overlapping syndromes. Hoarding consistently emerged as a separate factor in all these studies. This study investigated the relationship between OCD symptom dimensions and normal personality traits in a sample of 56 OCD patients. They were administered the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, derived from Gray's and Eysenck's personality models, respectively. The personality scores were correlated with previously identified symptom dimensions from the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist (Y-BOCS-SC), controlling for overall illness severity. High scores on the hoarding dimension of the Y-BOCS-SC were positively correlated with scores on the Sensitivity to Punishment scale and negatively with Eysenck's Psychoticism scale. While high sensitivity to punishment is a personality feature common to many OCD patients, it is more strongly pronounced in patients with hoarding symptoms. These patients also appear to be less impulsive or novelty seeking as reflected by low scores on Eysenck's Psychoticism scale. High sensitivity to punishment and low novelty seeking in OCD hoarders might explain their poor compliance and response to conventional treatments, but this question needs to be explored further in a prospective treatment study.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hoarding--what does it mean?

Collecting is a normal phenomenon, in contrast with pathological collecting, or hoarding. Is hoarding a different phenomenon, or an extreme aspect existing on the same spectrum of behavior? How may these phenomena be understood when they are part of everyone's repertoire on one hand, but may be symptomatic of a grave disturbance on the other hand. An overview and a discussion of hoarding are presented.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hoarding of animals: an under-recognized public health problem in a difficult-to-study population.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to better characterize the problem of hoarding, or pathological collecting, of animals. METHODS: The author summarized data from a convenience sample of 54 case reports from 10 animal control agencies and humane societies across the country. RESULTS: The majority (76%) of hoarders were female, and 46% were 60 years of age or older. About half of the hoarders lived in single-person households. The animals most frequently involved were cats, dogs, farm animals, and birds. The median number of animals per case was 39, but there were four cases of more than 100 animals in a household. In 80% of cases animals were reportedly found dead or in poor condition. Prevalence estimates extrapolated from these data range from 700 to 2000 U.S. cases annually. CONCLUSIONS: Public health authorities should recognize that animal hoarding may be a sentinel for mental health problems or dementia, which merit serious assessment and prompt intervention. Improved cooperation between humane societies and public health authorities could facilitate the resolution of animal hoarding cases.

Animal Welfare↗

PubMed2006

Climate change and the demographic demise of a hoarding bird living on the edge.

Population declines along the lower-latitude edge of a species' range may be diagnostic of climate change. We report evidence that climate change has contributed to deteriorating reproductive success in a rapidly declining population of the grey jay (Perisoreus canadensis) at the southern edge of its range. This non-migratory bird of boreal and subalpine forest lives on permanent territories, where it hoards enormous amounts of food for winter and then breeds very early, under still-wintry conditions. We hypothesized that warmer autumns have increased the perishability of hoards and compromised subsequent breeding attempts. Our analysis confirmed that warm autumns, especially when followed by cold late winters, have led to delayed breeding and reduced reproductive success. Our findings uniquely show that weather months before the breeding season impact the timing and success of breeding. Warm autumns apparently represent hostile conditions for this species, because it relies on cold storage. Our study population may be especially vulnerable, because it is situated at the southern edge of the range, where the potential for hoard rot is most pronounced. This population's demise may signal a climate-driven range contraction through local extinctions along the trailing edge.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Peripheral ghrelin injections stimulate food intake, foraging, and food hoarding in Siberian hamsters.

Fasting triggers many effects, including increases in circulating concentrations of ghrelin, a primarily stomach-derived orexigenic hormone. Exogenous ghrelin treatment stimulates food intake, implicating it in fasting-induced increases in feeding, a consummatory ingestive behavior. In Siberian hamsters, fasting also stimulates appetitive ingestive behaviors such as foraging and food hoarding. Therefore, we tested whether systemic ghrelin injections (3, 30, and 200 mg/kg) would stimulate these appetitive behaviors using a running wheel-based food delivery system coupled with simulated burrow housing. We also measured active ghrelin plasma concentrations after exogenous ghrelin treatment and compared them to those associated with fasting. Hamsters had the following: 1) no running wheel access, free food; 2) running wheel access, free food; or 3) foraging requirement (10 revolutions/pellet), no free food. Ghrelin stimulated foraging at 0-1, 2-4, and 4-24 h postinjection but failed to affect wheel running activity not coupled to food. Ghrelin stimulated food intake initially (200-350%, first 4 h) across all groups; however, in hamsters with a foraging requirement, ghrelin also stimulated food intake 4-24 h postinjection (200-250%). Ghrelin stimulated food hoarding 2-72 h postinjection (100-300%), most markedly 2-4 h postinjection in animals lacking a foraging requirement (635%). Fasting increased plasma active ghrelin concentrations in a time-dependent fashion, with the 3- and 30-mg/kg dose creating concentrations of the peptide comparable to those induced by 24-48 h of fasting. Collectively, these data suggest that exogenous ghrelin, similar to fasting, increases appetitive behaviors (foraging, hoarding) by Siberian hamsters, but dissimilar to fasting in this species, stimulates food intake.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Compulsive hoarding.

Four cases of compulsive hoarding are described, all sharing the following characteristics: (1) onset in the twenties, (2) preoccupation with hoarding to the exclusion of work and family, (3) diminished insight, (4) little interest in receiving treatment, (5) no attempt to curb their compulsion. They do not show clear psychotic features. The implications of these characteristics for the diagnosis of hoarding are discussed.

Adult↗