Some features of learning in the Morris water test in rats selected for responses to humans.

Neurosci Behav Physiol

Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.

Published: June 2008

AI Article Synopsis

  • Tame rats excelled in locating the hidden platform in the Morris water test compared to aggressive rats, spending less time searching at the basin's edges.
  • Aggressive rats displayed longer vertical investigative behavior on the platform, while both strains showed a tendency to linger in areas where the platform was previously located, indicating memory retention.
  • Initial corticosterone levels were lower in tame rats, suggesting that reduced stress and emotional reactivity may enhance learning, although hormone levels equalized after several training days.

Article Abstract

The characteristics of learning in the Morris water test were studied in gray rats subjected to prolonged selection for elimination (the tame strain) and enhanced (the aggressive strain) aggressivity towards humans. Blood corticosterone levels at different stages of learning were also estimated. Tame rats learned to locate the invisible platform better than aggressive rats. The time spent seeking the platform by aggressive rats increased because they spent more time at the periphery of the basin. The duration of vertical investigative activity while on the platform was greater in tame rats than in aggressive rats. Fixation of the memory trace was demonstrated by the observation that rats of both strains spent more time in the sector in which the platform had been located during the training period. Rats of the two strains showed essentially no difference in terms of the time spent seeking the platform when it was placed in the opposite sector. After one day of training, blood corticosterone was significantly lower in tame than in aggressive rats. On subsequent training days, hormone levels in tame animals increased and were no different from those in aggressive rats. It is suggested that decreased emotionality and stress reactivity facilitated the learning process in tame rats in the Morris water test.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11055-008-9010-9DOI Listing

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