title: Food deprivation effects on the running-wheel activity of wild and domestic Norway rats.
abstract: Increases in activity typically accompany the food deprivation of Norway rats housed in activity wheels. The hypothesis that domestication has reduced the intensity of this response to food deprivation was tested by comparing the wheel-running scores of adult male wild (laboratory-reared) and domestic Norway rats when food-deprived and satiated. Wild rats were more active in the wheels than domestic subjects, irrespective of the presence or absence of food. However, the proportional increase in wheel-running when food deprived was the same for both stocks. It is hypothesized that the process of domestication has had little influence on the wheel-running response of rats to food deprivation.
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, U.S.A.
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Price