Tehran University of Medical Sciences Auditory and Vestibular Research 2423-480X 31 1 2022 01 01 45 52 Sara Sardari Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Religious and Medicine Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Majid Asadi-Shekaari Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AND Religious and Medicine Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mohammad Khaksari Department of Physiology, Afzalipour School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Iraj Aghaei Neuroscience Research Center, Poursina Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran Fateme Delavari Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Zohre Vaziri Centre de Recherche CERVO, Department de Psychiatrie et de Neurosciences, Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada 2021 05 25 2021 08 05 Background and Aim: Stress could play either helpful or harmful roles in vestibular compensation, the process of recovery after vestibular system lesions. Herein, we examined the effect of two stressor types on vestibular compensation: chronic anxiety disorder induced by early maternal separation (MS), and caloric restriction by an intermittent fasting (IF) diet. Methods: Male Wistar rats (n=56) received maternal separation (the MS group), intermittent fasting (IF group), unilateral vestibular deafferentation (UVD group), or a mixture of these interventions (UVD+IF, UVD+MS, and UVD+IF+MS). All the groups were compared with control animals. The animals’ balance, motor coordination, anxiety, locomotor activity, and serum cortisol levels were evaluated by rotarod, open field, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods, respectively. The data were compared with those of the healthy control (HC) group. Results: The UVD animals did not show a significant change in the time on the rod, except for the IF+UVD group (p=0.04). There was no significant difference between the experimental groups on the open field indices, except for the MS+IF+UVD group which traveled a significantly less total distance (p=0.02). Serum cortisol levels were significantly higher than HCs for all the groups except for the sham saline and IF+UVD group (p<0.05). Conclusion: IF seems to promote compensation after UVD, while MS may disrupt it. However, IF loses its beneficial outcomes if the animal has received another source of stress, i.e. MS. https://avr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/avr/article/view/955 https://avr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/avr/article/download/955/437