title: Corticosterone and interchromosomal race discrimination in the house mouse.
abstract: We report results of a study on emotional arousal, as reflected by corticosterone variation, following dyadic encounters within and between chromosomal races of the house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus). Three contiguous chromosomal races from northeast Scotland were analyzed (2n = 32, 2n = 36, 2n = 40). Within-race encounters resulted in similar average corticosterone levels in mice from the three races. For all three races, certain of the between-race encounters resulted in a significant increase in corticosterone relative to those following within-race encounters. These results confirm our previous observations of a differential behavioral treatment of house mice from the same vs from a different chromosomal race, and support our proposition for behavioral discrimination between chromosomal races of this species in northeast Scotland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. ganem@isem.univ-montp2.fr
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ganem
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Searle
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone