Effects of Recurrent Stress and a Music Intervention on Tumor Progression and Indices of Distress in an MNU-induced Mammary Cancer in Rats
Abstract
The present research examined biological and behavioral effects of recurrent stress, music exposure, and a sound (noise) control on mammary tumor progression and indices of distress in female rats. All animals were injected with 1-methyl-1 nitrosourea (MNU) to induce mammary tumors. The present research was a 2 x 3 design with stress/no stress and music/noise/no music exposure as the independent variables. The biological variables were:day of first tumor detection, tumor multiplicity, tumor weight, tumor growth, adrenal gland weight, spleen weight, serum corticosterone, and body weight. The behavioral variables were: center time, horizontal activity, and vertical activity, ultrasonic vocalizations, and food consumption. Major findings in animals that developed tumors include: noise decreased anxiety symptoms; noise increased horizontal activity; sound (music and noise) increased positive affect; noise may be helpful with regard to tumor incidence, tumor growth, and tumor multiplicity in non-stressed animals. The major findings animals without tumors include: noise attenuated serum corticosterone when not stressed and sound (music and noise) decreased negative affect. Limitations to the present experiment include the use of one method of cancer induction and one method of stress manipulation. Additionally, while the music selection was based on current literature, the literature on the effects of music exposure is limited (particularly in animal models) and replication is necessary. This experiment is valuable in many respects. The noise condition was included to serve as a sound control but resulted in several significant findings and, therefore, warrants further investigation. It is clear that the use of a sound control is essential in future research involving music exposure. Future research also should examine the effects of different stressors, different musical selections, and different noises on the effects of stress and tumor progression.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 04, 2011
- Accession Number
- AD1013366
Entities
People
- Cynthia A. Rose
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences