title: Does postural asymmetry indicate directionally of rotation in rats: role of sex and handling.
abstract: Postural asymmetry of male and female Wistar rats was assessed during 4 tests: (a) tail suspension, (b) tail holding, (c) tail pinch and (d) walking on a narrow path. The tests were conducted prior to and after (+)-amphetamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) administration. Rotational directionality was assessed in a rotometer. Only in female rats did postural adjustment during the tail-pinch predict with borderline significance the direction of circling prior to and after amphetamine. In both surgically castrated and conjugated estrogen-treated male rats, in sham-castrated and handled males, the tail-pinch test caused the same dominant directionality as rotation under amphetamine. The duplicity of postural tests suggests that there is a multitude of systems controlling and modulating postural response.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D011187:Posture; D051381:Rats; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects; D012737:Sex Factors; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D003913:Dextroamphetamine