Effects of room and cage familiarity on locomotor activity measures in rats

Galani, Rodrigue; Duconseille, Elee; Bildstein, O; Cassel, J.C.

doi:10.1016/s0031-9384(01)00509-1

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Infants generally rear and groom more than adults in the familiar environment, results consistent with a prior study showing that 3-week-old rats engage in both behaviors more than adults do (Campbell & Mabry, 1973). We recommend careful baseline comparison analysis when using a novel test chamber for infants and comparing the outcomes to adult responses.Consistent with the literature, our data also confirm that adults were most active in the novel environment compared with the familiar environment (Buelke-Sam et al, 1984;Galani et al, 2001), but our data further demonstrate this is only true in the dark phase. Direct comparison of familiar with novel responses are rare in open-field studies.…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

“…Environmental novelty or familiarity significantly influences adult activity (Buelke-Sam, Sullivan, Kimmel, & Nelson, 1984;Galani, Duconseille, Bildstein, & Cassel, 2001), and some infant studies have a limited consideration of this (Buelke-Sam et al, 1984;Eilam & Golani, 1988;Golani et al, 2005;Pappas, Vickers, Buxton, & Pusztay, 1982). Open questions on late infant patterns of exploration remain.…”

Section: Nih-pa Author Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Comparison of infant and adult rats in exploratory activity, diurnal patterns, and responses to novel and anxiety-provoking environments.

Smith¹,

Morrell²

2007

Behavioral Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Infant rats emerge from the maternal nest at Postnatal Day 17-18 to have their first critical environmental experiences; they may be particularly sensitive to experiences or experimental interventions that can affect their adult capacity. The authors address open questions on 2 components of normative environmental exploration, locomotor activity and response to anxiety-provoking locations, in Postnatal Day 18 infant and Postnatal Day 60 adult rats. The authors compare diurnal patterns of locomotor activity, wheel running, novel and familiar open-field activity, and 2 measures of anxiety. Infants have an equivalent capacity to adults for locomotor activity and wheel running and a fundamentally adult-like diurnal rhythm, except that they do not anticipate light-dark transitions, are more perturbable at their most somnolent, and are more or less active during specific limited phases than adults. Infants initially have a lower rate of locomotor activity in novel environments and have a greater willingness to be active in anxiety-provoking locations. Such differences may allow enhanced gathering of environmental information by the infant and are important to consider in the design of experiments using infants. Keywordsinfant; adult; exploration; activity; anxiety In humans, late childhood and adolescence is the period when drug sampling and experimentation first begins (Brown & Tapert 2004;Johnston, O'Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2005;Spear, 2000;Turner, Mermelstein, & Flay, 2004), when clinical mental health disorders requiring pharmacologic intervention, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, emerge (Andersen, 2003;Andersen, Arvanitogiannis, Pliakas, LeBlanc, & Carlezon, 2002), and when the central nervous system (CNS) is readily shaped by many stimuli, often with long-lasting consequences. Ultimately, studies using immature animals may inform us about human disorders with early life origins (e.g., hyperactivity) and may inform the beneficial use of pharmacological treatments. Further, these studies may provide insight into the effects of preadolescent sampling of drugs of abuse (Dahl & Spear, 2004).Prior to achieving sexual maturity between Postnatal Days (P) 55-60, immature rats are either infants (P1-P28) or adolescents (P28-P55; Ojeda & Urbanski, 1988;Spear, 2000). Infant rats are vigilantly kept in the protective maternal nest by their mothers until around P17-P18 (Barnett, 1958;Galef & Clark, 1972; Pereira & Morrell, 2007;Small, 1899), when they are allowed out into their larger environment. At this point, they have full motor and sensory capacity (Moorcroft, Lyttle, & Campbell, 1971). Experiences at this point readily produce longCorrespondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kiersten S. Smith, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, 197 University Avenue, Newark, NJ 07102. E-mail: kismith@pegasus.rutgers.edu. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript term effects; enriched environments lead...

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Nih-pa Author Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of infant and adult rats in exploratory activity, diurnal patterns, and responses to novel and anxiety-provoking environments.

Smith¹,

Morrell²

2007

Behavioral Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to different substrains of mice used in these studies, our behavioral tests were performed in the home cages as opposed to a habituated testing environment described in Miner studies (1997). The novelty of the testing environment is known for influencing the basal (Galani et al, 2001) and drug-stimulated locomotor activity (Carey et al, 2005) in rodents. Furthermore, it has been reported that habituation to a novel environment in rodents is determined by specific genes (for review see Leussis and Bolivar, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

C57BL/6J mice show greater amphetamine-induced locomotor activation and dopamine efflux in the striatum than 129S2/SvHsd mice

Chen

Zhang

Park

et al. 2007

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Inbred strains of mice have served as valuable models for studying genetic susceptibility to drug addiction, an alternative to genetically modified mouse models. This is the first study comparing amphetamine (AMPH) effects on locomotor stimulation and dopamine efflux between two inbred strains of mice C57BL/6J and 129S2/SvHsd, frequently used as background strains for production of genetically engineered mice. There were no significant differences in basal locomotor activity and basal dopamine levels between the two strains. However, C57BL/6J mice showed greater AMPHstimulated locomotor activity and AMPH-induced striatal dopamine efflux than 129S2/SvHsd mice. The differential AMPH effects could not be explained by differences in presynaptic dopamine components such as surface and total dopamine transporter (DAT) expression levels, striatal dopamine contents, and DAT activity. C57BL/6J and 129S2/SvHsd mice are excellent models for future identification of genetic, molecular, and behavioral components related to individual vulnerability to AMPH addiction. This study emphasizes the importance of mouse strain selections in the production of genetically modified mice for investigating phenotypes and mechanisms of psychostimulants.

show abstract

“…Therefore, this finding suggests that the essential change in exploratory pattern caused by subordination is a decline in activity, given the decreased number of crossings in the peripheral area, rather than a decrease in active patterns of exploratory behavior. Since the peripheral area of the open field used in the present experiment was a mildly phobic place from which they could not escape, rats stayed with crouching posture in the corners of the peripheral area accompanied by an increasing withdrawal tendency as a response to a novel environment (see also Blanchard et al, 1991;Galani, Duconseille, Bildstein, & Cassel, 2001). Thus, the decrease in the amount of locomotion in this inescapable area should be considered to reflect not only decreased activity but also an increased tendency towards crouch/ freeze, which represents the withdrawal pattern of defensive behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the pattern of exploratory behavior are associated with the emergence of social dominance relationships in male rats

Arakawa

2005

Developmental Psychobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examined the effect of the establishment of dominance relationships and subordination on exploratory behavior for both postpubertal and adult male rats. Prior to an open field test, subjects were housed either in isolation (IS) or in littermate pairs (PS) with mild dominance relationships without overt victory or defeat, or in pairs with clear hierarchical relationships as dominants (DOM) or subordinates (SUB). Stretch-attend postures and entries into the center area of the open-field were measured as an index of passive and active exploratory behavior, respectively, and crossings in the peripheral area were counted as activity. SUB rats, both postpubertal and adult, displayed less activity and lower levels of active exploratory behavior, whereas adult IS rats showed higher levels of active exploratory behavior compared to the other groups. Furthermore, both DOM and PS rats exhibited a more passive pattern of exploratory behavior in adulthood than in postpuberty. Thus the results show that an increase in the active exploratory pattern is inhibited by the establishment of social relationships among adult rats, while a decrease in activity is a primarily effect of subordination. The capacity to change exploratory patterns following subordination is found even in the postpubertal stage when adultlike social relationships have not yet appeared.

show abstract

Effects of room and cage familiarity on locomotor activity measures in rats

Cited by 30 publications

References 17 publications

Comparison of infant and adult rats in exploratory activity, diurnal patterns, and responses to novel and anxiety-provoking environments.

Comparison of infant and adult rats in exploratory activity, diurnal patterns, and responses to novel and anxiety-provoking environments.

C57BL/6J mice show greater amphetamine-induced locomotor activation and dopamine efflux in the striatum than 129S2/SvHsd mice

Changes in the pattern of exploratory behavior are associated with the emergence of social dominance relationships in male rats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About