Rat

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.

Stress-like responses to common procedures in rats: Effect of the estrous cycle

Witnessing decapitation of other rats induced cardiovascular responses which were not different from those of rats witnessing other procedures. The cardiovascular responses were not enhanced during proestrus estrus compared to metestrusdiestrus. There were also no significant effects of the estrous...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Sharp, J. L., Zammit, T. G., Lawson, D. M. 2002. Stress-like responses to common procedures in rats: Effect of the estrous cycle. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 41(4).

Dissociable effects of isolation rearing and environmental enrichment onexploration, spatial learning and HPA activity in adult rats

Environmental enrichment, regardless of social background, primarily accelerated habituation to novelty and improved spatial learning and memory.

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Schrijver, N. C., Bahr, N. I., Weiss, I. C. et al. 2002. Dissociable effects of isolation rearing and environmental enrichment onexploration, spatial learning and HPA activity in adult rats. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 73, 209-224.

Environmental influences on functional outcome after a cortical infarct in the rat

We conclude that the beneficial effect of postischemic environmental enrichment is likely to be a combination of social and various physical activities.

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

Citation: Risedal, A., Mattsson, B., Dahlqvist, P. et al. 2002. Environmental influences on functional outcome after a cortical infarct in the rat. Brain Research Bulletin 58(3), 315-321.

Rats’ preferences for corn versus wood-based bedding and nesting materials

Corn by-products can be used as bedding and nesting products. Corn-cob bedding resists ammonia build-up and corn-husk nesting material resists dampness. It is not clear whether these advantages are at the expense of animal comfort. Corn cob was compared to...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Ras, T., Van de Ven, M., Patterson-Kane, E. G. et al. 2002. Rats' preferences for corn versus wood-based bedding and nesting materials . Laboratory Animals 36, 420-425.

Variation in visual acuity within pigmented, and between pigmented and albino rat strains

we measured psychophysically the vertical grating acuity of three pigmented (Dark Agouti, Fisher-Norway, Long-Evans) and three albino (Fisher-344, Sprague-Dawley, Wistar) strains of laboratory rats, and compared their acuity with that of wild rats. The grating thresholds of Dark Agouti, Long-Evans...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Prusky, G. T., Harker, K. T., Douglas, R. M. et al. 2002. Variation in visual acuity within pigmented, and between pigmented and albino rat strains. Behavioral Brain Research 136, 339-348.