Behavioral stress response of genetically selected aggressive and nonaggressive wild house mice in the shock-probe/defensive burying test

Genetically selected aggressive and nonaggressive male wild house mice were tested in the shock-probe/defensive burying test. Five distinct behaviors (burying, immobility, rearing, grooming, and exploration) were recorded in two environmental situations: fresh and home cage sawdust. Nonaggressive an...

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Published in:Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior biochemistry and behavior, 1996-05, Vol.54 (1), p.113-116
Main Authors: Sluyter, Frans, Korte, S.Mechiel, Bohus, Bela, Van Oortmerssen, Geert A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggression
Aggression - physiology
Animals
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Behavioral strategies
Biological and medical sciences
Defensive burying
Electroshock
Environment
Exploratory Behavior - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Grooming - physiology
Male
Mice
Motor Activity - physiology
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Stress
Stress, Psychological - genetics
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Wild house mice
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Summary:Genetically selected aggressive and nonaggressive male wild house mice were tested in the shock-probe/defensive burying test. Five distinct behaviors (burying, immobility, rearing, grooming, and exploration) were recorded in two environmental situations: fresh and home cage sawdust. Nonaggressive animals, characterized by a Long Attack Latency (LAL), showed more immobility in both test situations than animals having Short Attack Latencies (SAL), whereas SAL males displayed more defensive burying than LAL ones when tested with fresh sawdust. Testing with home cage sawdust, however, resulted in the same duration of defensive burying in SAL and LAL. These results support earlier findings about the existence of two heritable, fundamentally different strategies to cope with aversive situations. Aggressive (SAL) animals react actively to environmental challenges, whereas nonaggressive animals react actively or passively, depending on the characteristics of the stressful environment. These mouse lines, selected for attack latency, i.e., aggression, may, therefore, be important tools to unravel the genetic architecture underlying the physiological and neuronal mechanisms of behavioral strategies towards stressful events.
ISSN:0091-3057
1873-5177
DOI:10.1016/0091-3057(95)02164-7