Effects of housing conditions on three behavioral tests in rats.
Groups of rats housed since weaning under two different kinds of housing conditions (wire and wooden cages) were compared at adulthood in the open field test, the step-through passive avoidance test, and for aggressiveness induced by REM-sleep deprivation and apomorphine administration. In the open field test wire-caged rats showed less rearing and grooming than wood-caged rats. This difference was accentuated by a single previous electrical shock (i.e., wire-caged rats exhibited less ambulation, rearing and grooming and more defecation than wood-caged rats, after shock) and was not altered by prior habituation to handling. In the passive avoidance test there were no significant differences between wire- and wood-caged rats. Wire-caged rats were more aggressive than wood-caged rats after REM-sleep deprivation and the administration of apomorphine. These results show that the control of previous housing conditions is an important variable to be considered in behavioral studies.
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004924:Escape Reaction; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D012895:Sleep, REM
D001058:Apomorphine