Rat

Impact of enriched-environment housing on brain-derived factor and on cognitive performance after a transient global ischemia

Environmental enrichment has positive effects that are independent of the effects of brain lesions.

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Gobbo, O. L., O'Mara, S. M. 2004. Impact of enriched-environment housing on brain-derived factor and on cognitive performance after a transient global ischemia. Behavioural Brain Research 152, 21-241.

Do laboratory rats benefit from more cage space?

The porphyrin scores were significantly higher in rats housed in small or large cages that were barren than in rats housed in small or large cages that were furnished with a PVC tube. The lowest porphyrin scores were found in...

Year Published: 2004Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Foulkes, A. 2004. Do laboratory rats benefit from more cage space? Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) Quarterly 53(3), 18-19.

Environmental enrichment improves response strength, threshold, selectivity, and latency of auditory cortex neurons

These experiments provide the first evidence of physiologic changes in auditory cortex processing resulting from generalized environmental enrichment.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Engineer, N. D., Percaccio, C. R., Pandya, P. K. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment improves response strength, threshold,selectivity, and latency of auditory cortex neurons. Journal of Neuophysiology 92, 73-82.

Environmental enrichment affects striatal graft morphology and functional recovery

Here we report on the effects of differential housing conditions on striatal graft morphology and functional recovery after striatal lesions... An increased level of striatal brain-derived neurotrophic factor was observed in the control animals housed under the enriched compared with...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Dobrossy, M. D., Dunnett, S. B. 2004. Environmental enrichment affects striatal graft morphology and functional recovery. European Journal of Neuroscience 19, 159-168.

Environmental enrichment reverses learning impairment in the Morriswater maze after focal cerebral ischemia in rats

Postischemic housing in an enriched environment also attenuates the long-term spatial memory impairment after MCA occlusion.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Dahlqvist, P., Ronnback, A., Bergstrom, S. A. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment reverses learning impairment in the Morriswater maze after focal cerebral ischemia in rats. European Journal of Neuroscience 19, 2288-2298.

Foraging enrichment for laboratory rats

The limited-access hopper had a tendency to reduce food consumption, but the time spent feeding encreased. The gnawing sticks provided the rats with the opportunity to gnaw, but did not affect other behaviours or body weight. The foraging device had...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Johnson, S. R., Patterson-Kane, E. G., Niel, L. 2004. Foraging enrichment for laboratory rats. Animal Welfare 13, 305-312.

Behavioural and welfare benefits using environmental enrichment for social housed rats

Constructing their own nests not only allowed the rats to engage in a species-typical behavior, which presumably enhanced their feeling of security, but it also reduced the incident of aggressive interactions.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jegstrup, I. M., Ritskes-Hoitinga, M. 2004. Behavioural and welfare benefits using environmental enrichment for social housed rats. Proceedings of the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations [FELASA] Symposium, 38-42.

Common variations in the pretest environment influence genotypic comparisons in models of anxiety

To this end, the inbred rat strains Lewis (LEW) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), which are known to differ for numerous emotionality-related behaviors, were tested in the open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM) and black/white box (BWB), while three...

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Izidio, G. S., Lopes, D. M., Spricigo, Jr. L. et al. 2004. Common variations in the pretest environment influence genotypic comparisons in models of anxiety. Genes, Brain and Behavior 4, 412-419.

Gene expression profiling in the intact and injured brain following environmental enrichment

The larger number of genes responsive to enrichment in the contralesional cortex (59 gene regulations) as compared to the analogous area (i.e. sensorimotor cortex) of the intact brain (17 gene regulations) likely reflects increased susceptibility for plastic changes due to...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Keyvani, K., Sachser, N., Witte, O. W. et al. 2004. Gene expression profiling in the intact and injured brain followingenvironmental enrichment. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology 63, 598-609.

The welfare of laboratory rats

Review of environmental factors, including handling and husbandry practices affecting the well-being of rats.

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Kaliste, E. , Mering, S. 2004. The welfare of laboratory rats. In: The Welfare of Laboratory Animals. Kaliste, E. (ed), 153-180. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.