Impulsivity trait in the early symptomatic BACHD transgenic rat model of Huntington disease.
Manfré G., Doyère V., Bossi S., Riess O., Nguyen HP., El Massioui N.
Impulsivity trait was characterized in 3-5 months old BACHD rats, a transgenic model of Huntington disease, using (1) the delay discounting task to assess cognitive/choice impulsivity, and (2) the Differential Reinforcement of Low Rate of Responding task to evaluate motor/action impulsivity. Transgenic animals showed a high level of choice impulsivity and, to a lesser extent, action impulsivity. Our results provide the first evidence that the transgenic BACHD rat (TG5 line) displays impulsivity disorder as early as 3 months old, as described in early symptomatic HD patients, thus adding to the face validity of the rat model.