Mild traumatic brain injuries are known to cause a host of symptoms, including headaches, nausea, and depression, that when persistent, are known as postconcussive syndrome. In addition to these overt symptomologies, individuals may experience changes in day-to-day behavior or temperament, which although not meeting criteria for postconcussive diagnosis, does cause distress to the individual. The aim of this study was to determine whether we could measure temperament in a rat and, if so, determine whether temperament is altered in response to repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries (RmTBI). Forty male and female adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats were same-sex pair housed and subjected to RmTBIs or sham injuries. The rats were recorded at 6 different time points throughout the study for the temperament assessment protocol, a measure of the complex behavioral profile of each rat within its dyadic home cage environment. The temperaments were quantified via a novel behavioral scoring algorithm. The rats were also tested on a battery of tests that were designed to measure symptoms of postconcussion syndrome. We determined that rodent temperament is quantifiable, is sex dependent, changes with age, and is modifiable in response to experiential factors such as RmTBI. Rats that received the RmTBIs were significantly less active and showed decreased levels of social interaction compared with their sham-injury counterparts. Moreover, both task switching and recovery patterns for RmTBI rats were dependent on the injury status of their cage mates. Future studies are now required to determine the mechanisms underlying these important changes in temperament. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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检查青春期重复性轻度创伤性脑损伤后啮齿动物气质的变化。

众所周知，轻度创伤性脑损伤会引起一系列症状，包括头痛、恶心和抑郁，如果这些症状持续存在，则称为脑震荡后综合征。除了这些明显的症状外，个人可能会经历日常行为或气质的变化，虽然不符合脑震荡后诊断的标准，但确实会给个人带来痛苦。本研究的目的是确定我们是否可以测量大鼠的气质，如果可以，确定气质是否因重复性轻度创伤性脑损伤 (RmTBI) 而发生改变。40 只雄性和雌性青春期 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠被同性饲养并遭受 RmTBI 或假损伤。在整个研究的 6 个不同时间点记录大鼠的气质评估方案，衡量每只大鼠在其二元家笼环境中的复杂行为特征。气质是通过一种新的行为评分算法来量化的。还对大鼠进行了一系列测试，这些测试旨在测量脑震荡后综合征的症状。我们确定啮齿类动物的气质是可量化的，取决于性别，随年龄变化，并且可以根据 RmTBI 等经验因素进行修改。接受 RmTBI 的大鼠与假损伤的大鼠相比，活动性显着降低，社交互动水平降低。此外，RmTBI 大鼠的任务切换和恢复模式都取决于其笼中伙伴的损伤状态。现在需要进一步的研究来确定这些重要的气质变化背后的机制。