ArticlesFactor Analysis Shows That Female Rat Behaviour Is Characterized Primarily by Activity, Male Rats Are Driven by Sex and Anxiety
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Animals
Male (n = 57) and female (n = 59) Wistar rats (bred at St. George's Hospital Medical School), were housed in same-sex groups of five or six from weaning. All animals were housed in the same animal room, maintained at 22°C, in a reversed light regimen 12 h on:12 h off (lights off 0800 h). Food and water were freely available. The animals were tested at approximately 90 days of age. The experimental procedures carried out in this study were in compliance with the UK Animal Scientific Procedures
Factor Analysis on the Measures of Behavior in the Holeboard
In both sexes, two clear independent factors emerged from a factor analysis of the holeboard data—factor 1 reflecting exploration, and factor 2 reflecting motor activity (see Table 1). There were no sex differences in the factor analyses of holeboard data.
Factor Analysis on the Measures of Behaviour in the Elevated Plus-Maze
As can be seen from Table 2, two independent factors were extracted from the analysis of the elevated plus-maze measures in male and female rats.
In male rats, factor 1, on which open-arm activity loaded highly, was considered to be an index of
Discussion
Head-dipping is considered to be a measure of directed exploration in the holeboard because it reflects novel aspects of the environment, manipulated by placing objects under the holes, and results in information storage, indicated by habituation on repeated exposures (15). There is also pharmacological and factor analytical evidence for a separation of head-dipping and locomotor activity 12, 13, 15. Far greater variability between the scores of different sample groups from the same population
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