The effects of phencyclidine (PCP) on anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze and the light–dark exploration test are age dependent, sexually dimorphic, and task dependent

Previous research in our laboratory revealed sexually dimorphic effects of prior exposure to phencyclidine (PCP) on elevated plus maze behavior. In an attempt to examine the developmental time course of this effect and determine the extent to which it generalizes to other anxiety paradigms, young adult (61–64days old) and adult (96–107days old) male and female rats were treated with PCP (15mg/kg) or saline. Following a two week withdrawal period, animals were tested in either the elevated plus maze (EPM) or a light–dark exploration (LD) test. In adults, both tests revealed a sexually dimorphic effect driven by PCP-induced decreases in anxiety in females as indicated by increased time spent in the open arms of the EPM and in the lit compartment of the LD test and increased anxiety in males as indicated by decreased time spent in the lit compartment of the LD. In young animals, PCP pretreatment decreased open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze, indicating increased anxiety. However, PCP increased time spent in the light compartment in the light–dark exploration test, indicating decreased anxiety. Corticosterone levels measured 15min after the onset of the EPM failed to reveal an association between the behavioral effects of PCP and corticosterone levels. The results in adults substantiate the previously observed sexually dimorphic effect of PCP on elevated plus maze behavior in adults and indicate that the effect generalizes to another anxiety paradigm. The results in the younger animals suggest an age dependent effect of PCP on anxiety in general and indicate that behaviors in the elevated plus maze and the light–dark exploration test reflect dissociable psychobiological states. ► Withdrawal from a single dose of PCP alters behavior in animal models of anxiety. ► Effects are age, sex and task dependent. ► In adults, PCP is anxiogeneic in males and anxiolytic in females in EPM and light dark test. ► In young adults, PCP is anxiogenic in the EPM and anxiolytic in the light dark test.