A kinematic analysis of evasive dodging movements used during food protection in the rat (Rattus norvegicus): evidence for sex differences in movement.
Food-deprived rats (Rattus norvegicus) will protect their food by dodging away from a conspecific. A detailed kinematic analysis of these movements in adult rats shows that each sex uses sex-typical movements. Females move their snout through a greater spatial curvature, and their snout achieves a greater velocity, relative to the pelvis, than males. Males make more hindpaw steps than females and achieve a more simultaneous movement of the fore- and hindquarters. This suggests that females pivot around a point more posterior on the body than males. The finding that functionally similar patterns of movement have a sex-specific organization provides a new dimension for the study of sex differences. These differences are discussed in relation to sex differences in sex-typical behaviors, associated body structure, and neural control.
Field
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Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Whishaw
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Pellis
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D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D009949:Orientation; D051381:Rats / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment