Rat

Effects of enriched environments with different durations and startingtimes on learning capacity during aging in rats assessed by a refinedprocedure of the Hebb-Williams maze task

These results show that aged animals still have appreciable plasticity in cognitive function, and suggest that environmental stimulation could benefit aging humans as well.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Kobayashi, S., Ohashi, Y., Ando, S. 2002. Effects of enriched environments with different durations and startingtimes on learning capacity during aging in rats assessed by a refinedprocedure of the Hebb-Williams maze task. Journal of Neuroscience Research 70, 340-346.

Neuronal plasticity and dendritic spines: effect of environmental enrichment on intact and postischemic rat brain

Housing rats in an enriched environment significantly increases spine density in superficial cortical layers in intact and lesioned brain.

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Johansson, B. B., Belichenko, P. V. 2002. Neuronal plasticity and dendritic spines: effect of environmentalenrichment on intact and postischemic rat brain. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 22, 89-96.

Chocolate, an effective means of oral drug delivery in rats

We trained the animals to smell the chocolate and develop a taste for it by holding the animal and placing the chocolate into its mouth using a blunt metal applicator (in our project we used a 14-gauge oral gavage needle)....

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Huang-Brown, K. M., Guhad, F. A. 2002. Chocolate, an effective means of oral drug delivery in rats. Lab Animal 31(10), 34-36.

Postnatal oxytocin treatment and postnatal stroking of rats reduce blood pressure in adulthood

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of postnatal oxytocin (OT) treatment and postnatal stroking on blood pressure and heart rate in adult rats. For this purpose, rats were treated subcutaneously with OT (1 mg/kg) once...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Holst, S., Uvnas-Moberg, K., Petersson, M. 2002. Postnatal oxytocin treatment and postnatal stroking of rats reduce blood pressure in adulthood. Autonomic Neuroscience 99(2), 85-90.

Assessing rodent well-being: Report of the 2001 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting

The meetings focused on techniques for assessing pain, suffering and sitress in mice and rats and monitoring the impact of procedures on their welfare.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., Roughan, J., Wilson, A. et al. 2002. Assessing rodent well-being: Report of the 2001 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 1, 3-12.

Physiological and behavioral responses to stress: What does a rat find stressful? Lab Animal 31(4), 42-49

Heart rate, body temperature, and activity were increased in a stressor-dependent fashion such that the extent of the response may be ranked in the following order: paired housing [ we introduced an adult male rat matched for body weight into...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Harkin, A., Connor, T. J., O'Donnell, J. M. et al. 2002. Physiological and behavioral responses to stress: What does a rat find stressful? Lab Animal 31(4), 42-49.

Environmental enrichment decreases intravenous amphetamineself-administration in rats: dose-response functions for fixed- andprogressive-ratio schedules

This result suggests that environmental enrichment may be a protective factor for reducing amphetamine intake at a low dose.

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Green, T. A., Gehrke, B. J., Bardo, M. T. 2002. Environmental enrichment decreases intravenous amphetamineself-administration in rats: dose-response functions for fixed- andprogressive-ratio schedules. Psychopharmacology 162, 373-378.

Comfortable quarters for rats in research institutions

Very useful guidelines for the species-adequate housing of rats.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Lawlor, M. M. 2002. Comfortable quarters for rats in research institutions. In: Comfortable Quarters for Laboratory Animals, Ninth Edition. Reinhardt, V. , Reinhardt, A. (eds.), 27-33. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

Psychological stress and environmental adaptation in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats

The enrichment effect on emotional reactivity in the open-field is long-lasting.

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Larsson, F., Winblad, B., Mohammed, A. H. 2002. Psychological stress and environmental adaptation in enriched vs. impoverished housed rats. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 73, 193-207.

Effects of cortical ischemia and postischemic environmental enrichmenton hippocampal cell genesis and differentiation in the adult rat

Postischemic environmental enrichment increased the ipsilateral generation of astrocytes normalizing the astrocyte-to-neuron ratio, which was significantly reduced in rats housed in standard environment postischemically.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Komitova, M., Perfilieva, E., Mattsson, B. et al. 2002. Effects of cortical ischemia and postischemic environmental enrichmenton hippocampal cell genesis and differentiation in the adult rat. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 22, 852-860.