The influence of housing condition on autotomy following dorsal rhizotomy in rats.
Forty-four rats were subjected to unilateral intradural section of dorsal roots T13-L6. Of these, 10 were housed alone and 34 were housed with female rats. Each of the 10 animals housed alone-self-mutilated to an extreme degree, with 7 cannibalizing the denervated limb. Only of the animals housed with a female showed any sign of self-biting, and this was a minor, isolated incident. These results are discussed with particular reference to dorsal rhizotomy in rats serving as a model of chronic pain.
D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012652:Self Mutilation; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery