Rat

Tickling during adolescence alters fear-related and cognitive behaviors in rats after prolonged isolation

Social interactions during adolescence are important especially for neuronal development and behavior. We recently showed that positive emotions induced by repeated tickling could modulate fear-related behaviors and sympatho-adrenal stress responses. In the present study, we examined whether tickling during early...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal Interaction, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hori, M., Yamada, K., Ohnishi, J. et al. 2014. Tickling during adolescence alters fear-related and cognitive behaviors in rats after prolonged isolation. Physiology & Behavior 131, 62-67.

The impact of social isolation on immunological parameters in rats

In various toxicological studies, single housing of rodents is preferred to standardize for regulatory purposes. However, housing conditions can have severe, often underestimated, impact on results in toxicological examinations. As different husbandry conditions have been shown to impose stress, we...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Krügel, U., Fischer, J., Bauer, K. et al. 2014. The impact of social isolation on immunological parameters in rats. Archives of Toxicology 88(3), 853-855.

Effects of a complex housing environment on heart rate and blood pressure of rats at rest and after stressful challenges

Housing enrichment for rodents continues to be a discussion topic within the animal care community. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which a complex housing environment affects heart rate, blood pressure, and activity of rats...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Sharp, J., Azar, T., Lawson, D. 2014. Effects of a complex housing environment on heart rate and blood pressure of rats at rest and after stressful challenges. JAALAS 53(1), 52-60.

Effects of single compared with pair housing on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation and low-dose heroin place conditioning in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats

Whether social isolation of adult rats under standard laboratory conditions produces significant long-term alterations in behavior and physiology is unclear. In the present study, male Sprague–Dawley rats were singly or paired-housed for 10 wk. During this period, they were tested...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Turner, P. V., Sunohara-Neilson, J., Ovari, J. et al. 2014. Effects of single compared with pair housing on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation and low-dose heroin place conditioning in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. JAALAS 53(2), 161-167.

Enrichment with wood blocks does not affect toxicity assessment in an exploratory toxicology model using Sprague-Dawley rats

Environmental enrichment in rodents may improve animal well-being but can affect neurologic development, immune system function, and aging. We tested the hypothesis that wood block enrichment affects the interpretation of traditional and transcriptomic endpoints in an exploratory toxicology testing model...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Ditewig, A. C., Bratcher, N. A., Davila, D. R. et al. 2014. Enrichment with wood blocks does not affect toxicity assessment in an exploratory toxicology model using Sprague-Dawley rats. JAALAS 53(3), 246-260.

The social buffering effect of playful handling on responses to repeated intraperitoneal injections in laboratory rats

Handling small animals for veterinary and experimental procedures can negatively affect animal wellbeing. We hypothesized that playful handling (tickling) would decrease stress associated with repeated injections in adult laboratory rats, especially those with prior tickling experience. We compared responses of...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Cloutier, S., Wahl, K., Baker, C. et al. 2014. The social buffering effect of playful handling on responses to repeated intraperitoneal injections in laboratory rats. JAALAS 53(2), 168-173.

Assessing the emotions of laboratory rats

Rats are one of the most commonly used species in research, and decades of testing have yielded a large amount of information pertaining to their experience of emotion. The aim of this review is to bring together information on rat...

Year Published: 2013Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2013. Assessing the emotions of laboratory rats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 148, 1-12.

Enriched cages for groups of laboratory male rats and their effects on behaviour, weight gain and adrenal glands

We investigated if there were any negative effects on the behaviour and physiology of rats housed in groups of five in two types of enriched cages and compared them with paired-housed rats housed in traditional cages. Eighty-four male Wistar and...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Lidfors, L., Wichman, A., Ewaldsson, B. et al. 2014. Enriched cages for groups of laboratory male rats and their effects on behaviour, weight gain and adrenal glands. Laboratory Animals 48, 36-49.

A simplified method to identify and reduce flooded rodent caging

The number of flooded cages per cage change cycle (14 days) was tracked and it was identified that leaks and flooding often times occurred shortly after cage changing. To reduce the occurrence of flooded caging, we developed a pre-screening process...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Holley, A., Drayer, J., Rammling, M. et al. 2014. A simplified method to identify and reduce flooded rodent caging. Charles River, Orlando, FL.

Role of noise and music as anxiety modulators: Relationship with ovarian hormones in the rat

This work aims to verify the role of noise and music as anxiety modulators and their relationship with ovarian hormones. For this purpose, female Wistar rats were used and treated, forming different experimental groups, with 17-β-estradiol, progesterone, allopregnanolone, finasteride (inhibitor...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Escribano, B., Quero, I., Feijóo, M. et al. 2014. Role of noise and music as anxiety modulators: Relationship with ovarian hormones in the rat. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 152, 73-82.