Rat

Social transmission of Pavlovian fear: Fear-conditioning by-proxy in related female rats

Pairing a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., a tone) to an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US; e.g., a foot-shock) leads to associative learning such that the tone alone will elicit a conditioned response (e.g., freezing). Individuals can also acquire fear...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jones, C. E., Riha, P. D., Gore, A. C. et al. 2014. Social transmission of Pavlovian fear: Fear-conditioning by-proxy in related female rats. Animal Cognition 17(3), 827–834.

Refinement of animal experiments: Replacing traumatic methods of laboratory animal marking with non-invasive alternatives

Reliable methods for identifying rodents play an important role in ensuring the success of preclinical studies. However, animal identification remains a trivial laboratory routine that is not often discussed, despite the fact that more than 6 million rodents are used...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Identification MethodAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Klabukov, I., Shestakova, V., Krasilnikova, O. et al. 2023. Refinement of animal experiments: Replacing traumatic methods of laboratory animal marking with non-invasive alternatives. Animals 13(22), 3452.

Moving away from soiled bedding sentinels—The (R)evolution in rodent health screening

Traditional health monitoring methods consist of Soiled Bedding Sentinels (SBS), with animals exposed to dirty bedding from colony animals, which require the euthanasia of SBS. Numerous studies have demonstrated that SBS may not accurately represent a colony's health status. During...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Esparza, K. 2023. Moving away from soiled bedding sentinels—The (R)evolution in rodent health screening. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 158–160.

Social vs Nonsocial housing differentially affects perseverative behavior in rats (Ratus norvegicus)

Perseverance, also commonly referred to as grit or industriousness, is the continued effort exerted to complete goal-directed tasks. Many factors, such as stress, can contribute to perseverative behavior, but the role of sociality on perseverance in animal models has not...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hemmer, B. M., Parrish, A. E., Wise, T. B. et al. 2019. Social vs. Nonsocial housing differentially affects perseverative behavior in rats (Ratus norvegicus). Animal Behavior and Cognition 6(3), 168–178.

Post-mortem extracorporeal membrane oxygenation perfusion rat model: A feasibility study

The development of biomedical soft- or hardware frequently includes testing in animals. However, large efforts have been made to reduce the number of animal experiments, according to the 3Rs principle. Simultaneously, a significant number of surplus animals are euthanized without...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Deininger, M. M., Benner, C.-F., Strudthoff, L. J. et al. 2023. Post-mortem extracorporeal membrane oxygenation perfusion rat model: A feasibility study. Animals 13(22), 3532.

Thermal response of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) during the application of six methods of euthanasia assessed by infrared thermography

Refinement is one of the principles aiming to promote welfare in research animals. The techniques used during an experimental protocol, including euthanasia selection, must prevent and minimize suffering. Although the current euthanasia methods applied to laboratory rodents are accepted, the...

Year Published: 2023Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Domínguez-Oliva, A., Hernández-Ávalos, I., Olmos-Hernández, A. et al. 2023. Thermal response of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) during the application of six methods of euthanasia assessed by infrared thermography. Animals 13(18), 2820.

Rat grimace scale as a method to evaluate animal welfare, nociception, and quality of the euthanasia method of wistar rats

Refinement of experimental procedures in animal research has the objective of preventing and minimizing pain/distress in animals, including the euthanasia period. This study aimed to evaluate pain associated with six methods of euthanasia in Wistar rats (injectable, inhalational, and physical),...

Year Published: 2023Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Domínguez-Oliva, A., Olmos-Hernández, A., Hernández-Ávalos, I. et al. 2023. Rat grimace scale as a method to evaluate animal welfare, nociception, and quality of the euthanasia method of wistar rats. Animals 13(20), 3161.

Evidence-based severity assessment of the forced swim test in the rat

The forced swim test (FST) is a traditional assay, which has been used for more than 40 years to assess antidepressant effects of novel drug candidates. In recent years, a debate about the test has focused on the assumption that...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive TestingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Becker, L., Mallien, A. S., Pfeiffer, N. et al. 2023. Evidence-based severity assessment of the forced swim test in the rat. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0292816.

Wildtype peers rescue social play and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization deficits in juvenile female Cacna1c heterozygous rats

Healthy brain development depends on early social practices and experiences. The risk gene CACNA1C is implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, in which key characteristics include deficits in social functioning and communication. Recently, we reported sex-dependent impairments in social behavior and...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bogdan, R., Kayumova, R., Schwarting, R. K. W. et al. 2023. Wildtype peers rescue social play and 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization deficits in juvenile female Cacna1c heterozygous rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Effects of social isolation on 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, affective state, cognition, and neurotransmitter concentrations in the ventral tegmental and locus coeruleus of adult rats

Vocal communication, cognition, and affective state are key features of sustained health and wellness, and because vocalizations are often socially-motivated, social experience likely plays a role in these behaviors. The monoaminergic systems of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the...

Year Published: 2023Topics: VocalizationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Broadfoot, C. K., Lenell, C., Kelm-Nelson, C. A. et al. 2023. Effects of social isolation on 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, affective state, cognition, and neurotransmitter concentrations in the ventral tegmental and locus coeruleus of adult rats. Behavioural Brain Research 437, 114157.