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Role of estrogen receptor‐α on food demand elasticity
Author(s) -
Minervini Vanessa,
Rowland Neil E.,
Robertson Kimberly L.,
Foster Thomas C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1002/jeab.149
Subject(s) - knockout mouse , estrogen receptor , receptor , endocrinology , estrogen , medicine , price elasticity of demand , elasticity (physics) , food intake , biology , economics , microeconomics , materials science , cancer , breast cancer , composite material
Estrogens have been shown to have an inhibitory effect on food intake under free‐feeding conditions, yet the effects of estrogens on food‐maintained operant responding have been studied to a much lesser extent and, thus, are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of the present experiment was to use a behavioral economics paradigm to assess differences in demand elasticity between mice with knockout of the estrogen receptor subtype α, knockout of subtype β, and their wild type controls. The mice responded in a closed economy, and the price of food was increased by increasing the fixed‐ratio response requirement every four sessions. Overall, we found that mice with the knockout of receptor subtype α had the most elastic demand functions. Therefore, under these conditions, estrogens increased food seeking via activation of the receptor subtype α. The results were inconsistent with those reported by previous studies that employed free‐feeding conditions.