Elicitation of aggression by food deprivation in olfactory bulbectomized male mice

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted in order to examine the necessary conditions for the elicitation of competitive aggression in olfactory bulbectomized male mice. Experiment 1 compared the fighting produced among pairs of bulbectomized males under either food deprivation or ad-lib feeding, with and without the presence of a food-pellet/competition-eliciting stimulus. Animals fought when food-deprived but not when sated. The presence of a food pellet was not necessary for the promotion of aggression. Experiment 2 sought to remove the condition of isolation in pretest housing. However, when bulbectomized males, housed in pairs, were placed upon a food-deprivation schedule, one member was inevitably cannibalized. Identically treated controls died before exhibiting any cases of cannibalism. These findings indicate that the condition of food deprivation is sufficient to reinstate intraspecific aggression in bulbectomized male mice, as well as combine with the effects of bulbectomy to promote normally inhibited cannibalism.

A natural food aversion in Norway rats.

“…However, most killers rendered anosmic by olfactory bulbectomy kill both mice and rat pups. Fortuna (1977) reported that bulbectomized mice kill and eat their cagemates when deprived of food for 23 hr but that control mice die from starvation without harming their cagemates.…”

Enhancement of social isolation-induced aggressive behavior of young mice by zinc deficiency

“…The duration of aggressive behavior was more in isolated pair-fed mice than in isolated zinc-deficient mice. There are a few reports that food restriction, an ecological stressor, elevates aggressive behavior (Fortuna, 1977;Rager and Thorne, 1977). One possible explanation for the increased aggressive behavior in pair-fed mice is that the mice are more food-motivated and thus are more frustrated by the decreased availability of food.…”