Ultrasonic facilitation of escape responding and disruption of anal body temperature in the golden hamster.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of ultrasonic pure tone on Mesocricetus auratus, a Murine rodent that does not organize rigidly into colonies as do some cricetid rodents. Subjects were 4 male and 4 female adult golden hamsters. All animals were trained to bar-press in a modified operant chamber to escape 24-v D.C. footshock. An experimental group was exposed to a 30-kHz tone at 60 dB during testing in the operant chamber with footshock absent. Similar testing trials were also given to assess the effect of ultrasonic sound on anal body temperature. It was noted that the experimental group demonstrated both behavioral arousal by bar-pressing significantly more often than controls (F = 6.95, df = 1/6, p greater than .05) and physiological arousal by increased body temperature (F = 6.88, df = 1/6, p greater than .05).
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001831:Body Temperature; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D006224:Cricetinae; D004597:Electroshock; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D014465:Ultrasonics