Differential effects of environmental enrichment on the open-field behavior of wild and domestic Norway rats.

Uw, Huck; Eo, Price

doi:10.1037/h0077160

Cited by 61 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It has been reported that rats housed individually in enriched cages (supplied with various structures), but able to see one another through the exposed sides of the cages, showed less behavioural indices of emotionality in the open field test (scored higher in ambulation and rearing) as compared with unenriched-housed littermates. 32 In accordance with our results, it has been argued that laboratory rats housed in conventional laboratory cages are ethologically, physiologically and psychologically aberrant and cannot be considered as normal animals. 64 More importantly, reduced external validity of the research and therefore the benefit gained from the research has been shown to arise when laboratory rodents are housed in standard laboratory cages.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats

Abou-Ismail

Mahboub

2011

Lab Anim

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The single housing of laboratory rats may be recommended in some situations such as hypothesis-driven or test-specific studies, during electroencephalogram recording of phases of sleep and after surgical procedures. However, as single housing of laboratory rats has been shown to be stressful, modification of the housing environment is needed to improve the welfare of these animals. This experiment was carried out to investigate the long-term effects of environmental enrichment on some behavioural, physiological, pathological and psychological measures of welfare. With two batches of animals, 24 rats were housed singly in either enriched cages (EC) (n ¼ 12 cages) or unenriched cages (UC) (n ¼ 12 cages). Behaviour was sampled every week and so was body weight and weight gain over a six-week observation period. Behaviours of the rats in the elevated plus-maze were recorded on the seventh week, whereas organ weights were recorded postmortem. The results revealed that long-term single housing of rats in super-enriched cages increased levels of indicators of good welfare including sleep, exploration, movement and feeding behaviour, body weights, weight gains and the relative weights of the thymus gland and spleen, and decreased levels of indicators of poor welfare such as stationary behaviour and the relative weight of adrenal glands. Thus, enrichment of conventional cages of newly weaned singly-housed laboratory rats with multiple physical structures appeared to improve their ability to control the environment and to promote their species-specific behaviour; changes that can ultimately result in good welfare.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats

Abou-Ismail

Mahboub

2011

Lab Anim

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“…Effects of EE upon emotional reactivity are less documented and remain more questionable. While some authors reported no or inconsistent effects (Fernandez-Teruel, Escorihuela, Castellano, Gonzalez, & Tobena, 1997;Huck & Price, 1975;Renner & Rosenzweig, 1987), others have reported emotional decrease in EE animals (Chamove, 1989;Escorihuela et al, 1994;Manosevitz, 1970). In conclusion, many studies have demonstrated better abilities of EE animals in several domains.…”

Section: Effects Of Enriched Environmentmentioning

confidence: 94%

Effects of pre‐ and postnatal stimulation on developmental, emotional, and cognitive aspects in rodents: A review

Chapillon

Patin

Roy

et al. 2002

Developmental Psychobiology

181

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Interactions between the organism and its environment, during pregnancy as well as during the postnatal period, can lead to important neurobehavioral changes. We briefly review the literature, and successively present the main results from our laboratory concerning the behavioral effects of prenatal stress, differential rearing conditions, and postnatal handling. We show that submitting primiparous DA/HAN rats to an acute emotional stress (exposure to a cat) at gestational day10, 14, or 19 leads to greatly increased mortality of pups and to decreased body weight of surviving animals. The effects of such a stressor on emotional reactivity are less obvious. Cognitive processes are impaired depending on the learning task. Enriched environments restore abnormal behaviors (emotional reactivity, motor skills, motor and spatial learning) due to brain trauma or genetic deficiencies. In any case, environmental enrichment does prevent or slow down aging effects. The effects of postnatal handling noted when using classical tests of emotional reactivity also are clear when defensive reaction paradigms are used. Furthermore, pregnant females that are early handled are less anxious than nonhandled females. We hypothesize that, when subjected to a stressor, the offspring of early-handled females would be protected from the deleterious effects of this stress compared to pups of nonhandled females.

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“…The most convincing examples of genetic influence on behavior come from selection and strain studies of behavior in mice (DeFries et al, 1978). Selective breeding of rats for either high or low fearfulness clearly shows that genetics plays a major role in determining an animal's temperament (Broadhurst, 1960;Eysenck and Broadhurst, 1964;Huck and Price, 1975). Behaviors studied in the laboratory are clearly shown to be substantially influenced by genetic factors (Plomin, 1990).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics and Behavior During Handling, Restraint, and Herding

Grandin¹,

Deesing²

2014

Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals

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The primary objective of this chapter is to discuss the effects of genetics on the behavior of herding animals during handling and restraint. Compared to rodents, poultry, and fruit flies (Drosophilia) very little behavioral genetics work has been done on livestock. During our careers we have observed thousands of animals under many different conditions. In this chapter we will discuss our observations under practical conditions and research findings, which would affect behavior during handling, herding, or restraint.Writing on the behavioral aspects of animal domestication for the Quarterly Review of Biology Price (1984) stated:It is difficult to generalize about the effects of domestication on either genetic or phenotypic variability because of different selection pressures on different traits and species. However, it is apparent that, with respect to animal behavior, domestication has influenced the quantitative rather than the qualitative nature of the response.To put it in simpler words, domestication changes the intensity of a behavioral response. For example, zebras are more flighty and nervous than domestic horses. Parsons (1988) further wrote that domestic animals are more stress resistant because they have been selected for a calm attitude toward man. In either event, a genetic predisposition to be fearful or calm interacts with early experience and learning in very complex ways. The term temperament will be used in this chapter to refer to nervous system reactivity, which is determined by both genetic and environmental factors. During handling, fear is a major determinant of an animal's behavior. Genetic influences on temperament interact with early experience and learning to shape adult patterns of behavior. The most convincing examples of genetic influence on behavior come from selection and strain studies of behavior in mice (DeFries et al., 1978). Selective breeding of rats for either high or low fearfulness clearly shows that genetics plays a major role in determining an animal's temperament (Broadhurst, 1960;Eysenck and Broadhurst, 1964;Huck and Price, 1975). Behaviors studied in the laboratory are clearly shown to be substantially influenced by genetic factors (Plomin, 1990). In the following sections we will discuss the interacting forces of genetics and experience. Some of the topics which will be covered are flocking behavior, herding behavior, flight zone, social behavior, attraction and reaction to novelty, inheritability of behavior, and sire effect; some general principles for handling domestic animals will also be discussed.

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Differential effects of environmental enrichment on the open-field behavior of wild and domestic Norway rats.

Cited by 61 publications

References 21 publications

The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats

The effects of enriching laboratory cages using various physical structures on multiple measures of welfare in singly-housed rats

Effects of pre‐ and postnatal stimulation on developmental, emotional, and cognitive aspects in rodents: A review

Genetics and Behavior During Handling, Restraint, and Herding

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