title: Phenotypic differences in behavior, physiology and neurochemistry between rats selected for tameness and for defensive aggression towards humans.
abstract: To better understand the biology of tameness, i.e. tolerance of human presence and handling, we analyzed two lines of wild-derived rats (Rattus norvegicus) artificially selected for tameness and defensive aggression towards humans. In response to a gloved human hand, tame rats tolerated handling, whereas aggressive rats attacked. Cross-fostering showed that these behavioral differences are not caused by postnatal maternal effects. Tame rats were more active and explorative and exhibited fewer anxiety-related behaviors. They also had smaller adrenal glands, larger spleens and lower levels of serum corticosterone. Blood glucose levels were lower in tame rats, whereas the concentrations of nine amino acids were higher. In the brain, tame rats had lower serotonin and higher taurine levels than aggressive rats. Our findings reinforce the notion that tameness is correlated with differences in stress response and will facilitate future efforts to uncover the genetic basis for animal tameness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. falbert@eva.mpg.de
authors.forename: Frank W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: Olesya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shchepina
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Römpler
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Teupser
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palme
authors.forename: Uta
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ceglarek
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kratzsch
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sohr
authors.forename: Lyudmila N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Trut
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thiery
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morgenstern
authors.forename: Irina Z
authors.initials: IZ
authors.lastname: Plyusnina
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schöneberg
authors.forename: Svante
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pääbo
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010641:Phenotype; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D001786:Blood Glucose