Date of Award
1985
Degree Name
Psychology
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Effects of elevated calcium on learned helplessness in rats was tested by maintaining animals on either distilled water or water containing 2.5 percent calcium. Animals that were maintained on drinking water containing high calcium showed elevated levels of brain and serum calcium. Rats that were on high calcium drinking water showed longer escape latencies than their non-calcium counterparts after they were pretreated with inescapable electric shocks. Lower levels of 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid associated with the state of "depression" were found in the forebrain and brainstem of these animals. Therefore, elevated levels of calcium enhance learned helplessness and decrease brain serotonin turnover. These data suggest that the primary deficit in certain depressive states may be in calcium homeostasis rather than in serotonin metabolism.
Subject
Helplessness (Psychology) - Effect of calcium on
Subject
Depression, Mental -- Effect of calcium on
Subject
Neural transmission -- Disorders -- Effect of calcium on
Recommended Citation
Arasteh, Kamyar, "The effect of calcium on learned helplessness and associated neurotransmitter change" (1985). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1974.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1974
