Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats
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Le résumé fourni par la source
Background: Rat tickling (heterospecific play between rats and the human hand), can promote positive affect and improve laboratory rat welfare. However, individual variation, particularly in response to the standard tickling protocol involving frequent pinning, may limit its effectiveness. Following hypothesis registration ( https://f1000research.com/articles/11-1053/v2), we aimed to refine the protocol by testing responses to different amounts of pinning during playful handling (PH), a flexible form of tactile interaction resembling juvenile rough and tumble rat play. Methods: Juvenile male and female Wistar rats received six daily 30-second sessions of PH with 0, 1, or 4 pins per session. A non-PH control involved a motionless hand. The primary response variables were the count and variability of 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs), which are measures of positive affect in rats. Additional exploratory outcomes included behavioural and physiological responses in the elevated plus maze and open field tests. Results: All PH treatments increased 50 kHz USVs compared to controls, confirming their positive effect. Males showed no difference in USVs across pinning conditions, while females vocalised more in treatments with minimal or no pinning. Except for the highest pinning treatment (P4), females produced more USVs than males across all conditions, including controls. However, reducing pinning did not reliably decrease USV variability or alter behavioural and physiological outcomes. Conclusions: Applying 50 kHz USVs as a measure of positive affect, these results confirm that tickling induces positive affect in juvenile laboratory rats. We report the novel finding of sex differences in response to tickling. Females preferred tickling where the amount of pinning is minimised relative to males that showed no preference across tickling treatments. Levels of USVs suggest that females possibly found the applied treatments, including control conditions, more rewarding than males did.
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Le contrôle bibliographique ouvert
DOI retrouvé dans Crossref DOI retrouvé ; titre concordant.
- Titre Crossref
- Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats
- Date Crossref
- 23/09/2025
- Éditeur
- F1000 Research Ltd
- Type
- journal-article
Ce recoupement confirme des métadonnées liées au DOI. Il ne confirme ni la méthode ni les conclusions de l’étude, et il ne compte pas comme une seconde source scientifique indépendante.
Où se fait cette recherche
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Scotland's Rural College Animal Behaviour and Welfare group pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Roslin Institute pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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At Bristol pays non établi dans la noticeOrganisation à but non lucratif
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University of Bristol Bristol Veterinary School pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Universities Federation for Animal Welfare pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
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University of Edinburgh Bioresearch Veterinary Services pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University Walk Biomedical Sciences Building pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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The North American 3Rs Collaborative pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
Animal Behaviour and Welfare group — Scotland's Rural College, Roslin Institute et At Bristol, avec 5 autres affiliations.
Une affiliation ne permet pas de déduire la nationalité d’un auteur.