Investigating the effect of risky play on cognitive performance and anxiety in rats

Abstract

Risk-taking is an important component of play, through which children learn risk assessment, test and develop motor skills, and learn how to master challenging situations. Additionally, it has been suggested that exposure to risk alleviates anxiety. Unfortunately, little empirical research has been done to explore the contribution of risks during play for adaptive development. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of risky play during the juvenile phase on cognitive performance and anxiety in adulthood. Rats were chosen as an animal model, since rats are playful animals and their play behaviour is well characterized. A social play deprivation (SPD)-rearing method and a risky play cage were used to create four experimental groups: socially housed with and without 30 minutes of risky play twice a day (CTLR and CTL); and SPD-reared with and without risky play (SPDR and SPD). The probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) task, response inhibition (RI) task and 5-choice-serial-reaction--time-task (5CSRTT) were used to asses cognitive performance. The elevated plus maze (EPM) and large open field (lOF) were used to investigate anxiety, while a smaller open field evaluated locomotion. The PRL task showed that CTLR and SPDR rats retrieved more rewards and displayed more win-stay behaviour than CTL rats. Additionally, introducing the variable ITI challenge did not affect omissions and correct responses in risky play rats, while performance in both low risk groups worsened during this challenge. While all groups displayed similar behaviour in the lOF, CTLR rats stayed significantly longer in the closed arms than both low risk groups. These findings indicate that risky play results in greater cognitive flexibility and altered anxiety-like behaviour in socially housed rats. Although performance of SPDR an CTLR rats were similar, no significant differences between SPD and SPDR rats were found. This could suggest that risky play is less effective in improving cognition in SPD-reared rats.