TY - JOUR
KW - CBG
KW - HPA axis
KW - cortisol
KW - monkey
KW - relocation
KW - self-injury
KW - stress
AU - Matthew D. Davenport
AU - Corrine K. Lutz
AU - Stefan Tiefenbacher
AU - Melinda A. Novak
AU - Jerrold S. Meyer
AB - Background
Self-injurious behavior (SIB), a disorder that afflicts many individuals within both clinical and nonclinical populations, has been linked to states of heightened stress and arousal. However, there are no published longitudinal data on the relationship between increases in stress and changes in the incidence of SIB. This study investigated the short- and long-term behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of SIB and control monkeys to the stress of relocation.
Methods
Twenty adult male rhesus macaques were exposed to the stress of relocation to a new housing arrangement in a newly constructed facility. Daytime behavior, sleep, and multiple measures of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis function were investigated before and after the move.
Results
Relocation induced a complex pattern of short- and long-term effects in the animals. The SIB animals showed a long-lasting increase in self-biting behavior, as well as evidence of sleep disturbance. Both groups exhibited elevated cortisol levels in saliva, serum, and hair, and also an unexpected delayed increase in circulating concentrations of corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG).
Conclusions
Our results indicate that relocation is a significant stressor for rhesus macaques and that this stressor triggers an increase in self-biting behavior as well as sleep disturbance in monkeys previously identified as suffering from SIB. These findings suggest that life stresses may similarly exacerbate SIB in humans with this disorder. The HPA axis results underscore the potential role of CBG in regulating long-term neuroendocrine responses to major stressors.
BT - Biological Psychiatry
DA - 2008-05-15
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.10.025
IS - 10
N2 - Background
Self-injurious behavior (SIB), a disorder that afflicts many individuals within both clinical and nonclinical populations, has been linked to states of heightened stress and arousal. However, there are no published longitudinal data on the relationship between increases in stress and changes in the incidence of SIB. This study investigated the short- and long-term behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of SIB and control monkeys to the stress of relocation.
Methods
Twenty adult male rhesus macaques were exposed to the stress of relocation to a new housing arrangement in a newly constructed facility. Daytime behavior, sleep, and multiple measures of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis function were investigated before and after the move.
Results
Relocation induced a complex pattern of short- and long-term effects in the animals. The SIB animals showed a long-lasting increase in self-biting behavior, as well as evidence of sleep disturbance. Both groups exhibited elevated cortisol levels in saliva, serum, and hair, and also an unexpected delayed increase in circulating concentrations of corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG).
Conclusions
Our results indicate that relocation is a significant stressor for rhesus macaques and that this stressor triggers an increase in self-biting behavior as well as sleep disturbance in monkeys previously identified as suffering from SIB. These findings suggest that life stresses may similarly exacerbate SIB in humans with this disorder. The HPA axis results underscore the potential role of CBG in regulating long-term neuroendocrine responses to major stressors.
PY - 2008
SP - 990
EP - 996
ST - A Rhesus Monkey Model of Self-Injury
T2 - Biological Psychiatry
TI - A Rhesus Monkey Model of Self-Injury: Effects of Relocation Stress on Behavior and Neuroendocrine Function
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322307010967
VL - 63
Y2 - 2025-05-09
SN - 0006-3223
ER -