Rodent

Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice

In animal-based research, welfare assessments are essential for ethical and legal reasons. However, accurate assessment of suffering in laboratory animals is often complicated by the multidimensional character of distress and pain and the associated affective states. The present study aimed...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Reiber, M., Schumann, L. von, Buchecker, V. et al. 2023. Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0285429.

Effects of early noise exposure on hippocampal-dependent behaviors during adolescence in male rats: Influence of different housing conditions

Central nervous system (CNS) development is a very complex process that can be altered by environmental stimuli such as noise, which can generate long-term auditory and/or extra-auditory impairments. We have previously reported that early noise exposure can induce hippocampus-related behavioral...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Molina, S. J., Lietti, Á. E., Carreira Caro, C. S. et al. 2022. Effects of early noise exposure on hippocampal-dependent behaviors during adolescence in male rats: Influence of different housing conditions. Animal Cognition 25(1), 103–120.

Animal-friendly behavioral testing in field studies: Examples from ground squirrels

Field studies of behavior provide insight into the expression of behavior in its natural ecological context and can serve as an important complement to behavioral studies conducted in the lab under controlled conditions. In addition to naturalistic observations, behavioral testing...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive TestingAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Nunes, S. 2023. Animal-friendly behavioral testing in field studies: Examples from ground squirrels. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17.

Non-invasive quantification of faecal and urine reproductive hormone metabolites in the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) occurs in colonies with a distinct dominance hierarchy, including one dominant, breeding female (the queen), 1–3 breeding males, and non-reproductive subordinates of both sexes that are reproductively suppressed while in the colony. To non-invasively evaluate...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Majelantle, T. L., Ganswindt, A., Ganswindt, S. B. et al. 2023. Non-invasive quantification of faecal and urine reproductive hormone metabolites in the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber). Animals 13(19), 3039.

Acclimation and blood sampling: Effects on stress markers in C57Bl/6J mice

Blood sampling in rodents is common practice in scientific studies. Some of the refined methods widely used are the puncture of the saphenous vein or tail vein, or even tail docking. The handling needs of these different blood sampling methods...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Marin, N., Moragon, A., Gil, D. et al. 2023. Acclimation and blood sampling: Effects on stress markers in C57Bl/6J mice. Animals 13(18), 2816.

The 3Rs in experimental liver disease

Patients with cirrhosis present multiple physiological and immunological alterations that play a very important role in the development of clinically relevant secondary complications to the disease. Experimentation in animal models is essential to understand the pathogenesis of human diseases and,...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Disease/Experimental ModelAnimal Type: All/General, Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Martinez-Lopez, S., Angel-Gomis, E., Sanchez-Ardid, E. et al. 2023. The 3Rs in experimental liver disease. Animals 13(14), 2357.

A field-based adaptation of the classic morris water maze to assess learning and memory in a free-living animal

Free-living animals rely on cognitive functions, such as learning and memory, for numerous aspects of their survival. However, research involving these mechanisms is often limited to the laboratory where animals are far removed from natural influences. Here, we adapted the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive TestingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: McKay, L., Hunninck, L., Sheriff, M. 2020. A field-based adaptation of the classic morris water maze to assess learning and memory in a free-living animal. Animal Behavior and Cognition 9(4), 396–407.

Play in rats: Association across contexts and types, and analysis of structure

Play has been proposed as a promising indicator of positive animal welfare. We aimed to study play in rats across contexts (conspecific/heterospecific) and types (social: pinning, being pinned; solitary: scampering), and we investigated its structure using behavioral sequence analysis. Group-housed...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Natural Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Melotti, L., Bailoo, J., Murphy, E. et al. 2014. Play in rats: Association across contexts and types, and analysis of structure. Animal Behavior and Cognition 1(4), 489–501.

Social transmission of Pavlovian fear: Fear-conditioning by-proxy in related female rats

Pairing a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., a tone) to an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US; e.g., a foot-shock) leads to associative learning such that the tone alone will elicit a conditioned response (e.g., freezing). Individuals can also acquire fear...

Year Published: 2014Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jones, C. E., Riha, P. D., Gore, A. C. et al. 2014. Social transmission of Pavlovian fear: Fear-conditioning by-proxy in related female rats. Animal Cognition 17(3), 827–834.

Refinement of animal experiments: Replacing traumatic methods of laboratory animal marking with non-invasive alternatives

Reliable methods for identifying rodents play an important role in ensuring the success of preclinical studies. However, animal identification remains a trivial laboratory routine that is not often discussed, despite the fact that more than 6 million rodents are used...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Identification MethodAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Klabukov, I., Shestakova, V., Krasilnikova, O. et al. 2023. Refinement of animal experiments: Replacing traumatic methods of laboratory animal marking with non-invasive alternatives. Animals 13(22), 3452.