Behavioral and Biological Effects of Housing Conditions and Stress in Male Rats - Relevance to Heart Disease

Abstract

The present experiment examined the effects of environmental enrichment and stress on behavioral and biological measures relevant to cardiovascular disease risk (i.e. plasma corticosterone levels elevated plus maze locomotor activity in an open field chamber body weight and food consumption and heart morphology). Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley rats were raised in enriched environments (social or social and physical enrichment) or non-enriched environments for a total of 48 days. Half of the animals were placed in stress conditions in which they received 14 days (20 minuteslday) of restraint stress and the other half of the animals were placed in a no-stress condition.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA458977

Entities

People

  • Sarah T. Shafer

Organizations

  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Brain
  • Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Cells
  • Chemistry
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Domestic Animals
  • Health Services
  • Heart Diseases
  • Human Behavior
  • Neurosciences
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Rodents

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Psychology

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Toxicology/Environmental Toxicology