LAUSR

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characteristic that is associated with increased vulnerability to stress compared to their non-behaviorally inhibited (NBI) counterparts. Our previous study demonstrated that BI individuals have lower heart rate variability (HRV) than NBI individuals. This suggests that BI individuals have significantly less parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) output at rest. However, it is unknown how BI affects avoidance acquisition using a mildly stressful stimulus. Previous studies have shown that there are differences in the behavior found in Wistar-Kyoto rats, which exhibit BI behavior, compared to Sprague-Dawley control rats. Our current study will test the hypothesis that BI individuals learn to make escape and avoidance responses using subdermal ulnar nerve transdermal electrical stimulation (TES) more rapidly than NBI individuals, and also experience a greater increase in heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). BI individuals were identified through a series of self-reported questionnaires. Three levels (30 mV, 50 mV, and 70 mV) of subdermal ulnar nerve TES were delivered to participants while receiving warning signals that predict the delivery of the TES. Participants had access to a button that when pressed during the light the warning signal prevented the delivery of the TES. This was scored as an avoidance response. If the button was pressed during the TES, it terminated the stimulation and was scored as an escape. HR and BP were also measured during TES using a BIOPAC data acquisition system. Our preliminary results do not suggest a difference between BI and NBI individual differences in HR or BP during TES (n=13); however, our future studies will investigate the differences in HRV and the acquisition of avoidance behavior during TES. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.