Rodent

Affordable noise control in a laboratory animal facility

Noise levels were reduced by as much as 15 dB in some areas. .. Reduction of noise levels by as little as 3-5 dB seems to greatly reduce apparent noise. [p. 48]

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rodent

Citation: Carlton, D. L., Richards, W. 2002. Affordable noise control in a laboratory animal facility. Lab Animal 31(1), 47-48.

Environmental enrichment for rodents and rabbits

Access to a nestlet - which was shredded - and Mouse Igloo probably reduced anxiety and has also helped to decrease mortality in transgenic mice.Placing a Mouse Igloo and a tunnel into the cage of group-housed male mice abolished fighting....

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rabbit, Rodent

Citation: Biczak, M., Pellecchia, D. 2002. Environmental enrichment for rodents and rabbits. TriBranch Symposium 2002 , unpublished poster presentation.

Environmental enrichment reverses the effects of maternal separation onstress reactivity

Postnatal maternal separation increases hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) gene expression and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and behavioral responses to stress. We report here that environmental enrichment during the peripubertal period completely reverses the effects of maternal separation on both HPA and behavioral...

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

Citation: Francis, D. D., Diorio, J., Plotsky, P. M. et al. 2002. Environmental enrichment reverses the effects of maternal separation onstress reactivity. Journal of Neuroscience 22, 7840-7843.

Early-life handling stimulation and environmental enrichment: Are some of their effects mediated by similar neural mechanisms? Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 73(1), 233-245

Neonatal (early) handling (EH) and environmental enrichment (EE) of laboratory rodents have been the two most commonly used methods of providing supplementary environmental stimulation in order to study behavioral and neurobiological plasticity. A large body of research has been generated...

Year Published: 2002Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HandlingAnimal Type: Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, Hamster, Mouse, Other Rodent, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Fernández-Teruel, A., Giménez-Llort, L., Escorihuela, R. M. et al. 2002. Early-life handling stimulation and environmental enrichment: Are some of their effects mediated by similar neural mechanisms? Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 73(1), 233-245.

Beneficial effects of enriched environment following status epilepticus inimmature rats

There was a significant increase in neurogenesis and pCREB immunostaining in the dentate gyrus in both control and SE animals exposed to the enriched environment compared to the nonenriched groups.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Faverjon, S., Silveira, D. C., Fu, D. D. et al. 2002. Beneficial effects of enriched environment following status epilepticus inimmature rats. Neurology 59, 1356-1364.

Stressful animal housing conditions and their potential effect on sympathetic neurotransmission in mice

Although the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) plays a major role in mediating the peripheral stress response, due consideration is not usually given to the effects of prolonged stress on the SNS. The present study examined changes in neurotransmission in the...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: D'Arbe, M., Einstein, R., Lavidis, N. A. 2002. Stressful animal housing conditions and their potential effect on sympathetic neurotransmission in mice. American Journal of Physiology 282(5), R1422-1428.

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.

Assessing the welfare of genetically modified mice

The present study addresses how the welfare of genetically modified mice can be assessed.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Francis, R. J. 2002. Assessing the welfare of genetically modified mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 1, 19-21.

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.