Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Rats Compared to Physiological Means (Heart Rate and Blood Pressure)
Loading...
Authors
Prater, Tim
Issue Date
2003
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
In the field of laboratory research, animals are often used for testing drugs before
they become available to the human market. With the well being of these animals in
mind many processes are done to insure the animal has maximized care. Accordingly,
the field of Ultrasonic Vocalization (USV) monitoring has grown in an effort to measure
stress in a rat model without having to use an intrusive method of measuring stress.
24 kHz frequency USVs have been long accepted as a measure of stress in rats; due to
their association with negative drugs or environments. However, no data exists that
correlates these vocalizations with a coincident physiological indication of stress, such as
a sympathetic change. In an effort to increase care standards, this project attempted to
correlate two measures of stress to 24 kHz vocalizations in a rat model, increased heart
rat and blood pressure. Vocalizations were observed using a bat-ultrasonic detector;
blood pressure and heart rate were monitored with use of an implanted telemetry system.
A positive correlation could lead to increased animal care, but we observed no significant
correlation relating the stress models to 24 kHz USV production.
Description
iv, 27 p.
Citation
Publisher
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.