Environmental enrichment and crowding: Behavioral and hormonal effects

Hull, Elaine M.; Kastaniotis, Chris; L'Hommedieu, Georgia D.; Franz, Jonathan R.

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(76)90032-9

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In addition, natural variations in basal testosterone can affect competitive ability in wild house mice [Zielinski and Vandenberg, 1993]. Nevertheless, these results are contradicted by other papers reporting that a reduction in the circulating testosterone concentration is not a prerequisite for subordination and there is no simple relationship between basal levels of testosterone and aggressiveness [Hull et al, 1976;Maruniak et al, 1977].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Behavioral effects of testosterone in relation to social rank in the male rabbit

Briganti

Seta

Fontani

et al. 2003

Aggressive Behavior

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The role of gonadal androgens in favoring the adaptation to environmental pressure, including social organization, is well known. In the rabbit, testosterone administration increases marking behavior, and its level can be affected by agonistic interaction. In this experiment, we studied the effect of subcutaneous administration of testosterone propionate (TP) (3 mg/d for 6 days) in male rabbits belonging to the same social group (6 groups of 4 animals). In 2 additional groups (4 animals each), males were injected with almond oil. The animals were observed for 6 days in seminatural conditions, then treated with TP (or oil) and observed for another 6 days. The dominant/subordinate frequency ratio of behavioral patterns was used to rank the animals. The testosterone plasma concentration was correlated with agonistic behavior after the first period of social interaction. A significant increase of marking, digging, and defensive activity was observed after TP administration in all animals independent of rank, whereas this increase was not present in animals treated with oil. Agonistic and interactive behaviors increased significantly after TP treatment only in the first-ranking animals. This indicates the influence of social rank in the modification of behaviors involving interactions among subjects Aggr. Behav. 29:269-278,

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Behavioral effects of testosterone in relation to social rank in the male rabbit

Briganti

Seta

Fontani

et al. 2003

Aggressive Behavior

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“…In general, both enriched groups showed higher CV for most physiological traits and for the Open Field and Food Drive tests. Such effects have already been published or can be recalculated from the data of previous reports (Thiessen et al 1962, Manosevitz & Pryor 1975, Hull et al 1976, Haemisch & Gä rtner 1994, Bergmann et al 1994=95, Dahlborn et al 1996, Van de Weerd et al 1997, Eskola & Kaliste-Korhonen 1999, Nevison et al 1999, Roy et al 2001, Tsai et al 2002.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are the effects of different enrichment designs on the physiology and behaviour of DBA/2 mice consistent?

et al. 2003

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SummaryEnvironmental enrichment is intended to improve the well-being of laboratory animals. Although many researchers have indicated that environmental enrichment may enhance animal well-being, there is some evidence that enrichment differs in its effects on physiology and behaviour between species and strains. The present study focuses on the effects of different enrichment designs on the physiology and behaviour of male and female DBA=2 mice. A total of 48 DBA=2J mice, 24 males and 24 females were used for this experiment. Upon arrival at about 3 weeks of age, the animals were randomly allotted to three experimental groups: NE, non-enrichment; E1, enriched with nest box, wooden climbing bar and nest material according to Scharmann (1993); E2, enriched with horizontal and vertical dividers, modi ed from Haemisch and Gä rtner (1994). Same-sex groups of four mice were housed for 12 weeks in type III Makrolon cages with (E1 or E2) or without (NE) enrichment objects. Behavioural performance (Open Field, Food Drive and Elevated Plus Maze tests) and physiological traits (haematological variables, body weight and organ weights, corticosterone and thyroxine levels) were measured. This study observed that enrichment had signi cant effects on the mean values of body weight (females), Open Field and Food Drive tests. The most signi cant housing differences were found between the E2 and NE=E1 groups. Furthermore, sex differences in the NE, E1 and E2 groups were not consistent for several variables (growth rate, relative weights of spleen, kidney and heart, Food Drive and Elevated Plus Maze behavioural performance). There was often a higher coef cient of variation (CV) in the E1 and E2 groups as compared to the NE group, chie y in physiological traits and in the Open Field and Food Drive tests. The results of this study indicate, that the effects of enrichment designs used in the present study are not consistent, but vary according to sex and the variable studied.

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“…In several studies, higher corticosterone levels are reported as a result of crowding. In each of these studies, however, group size increased while space allowance decreased [6,26,27].…”

Section: Cage Size Effectsmentioning

confidence: 95%