Sex differences in running-wheel behaviour in the rat: The inductive and activational effects of gonadal hormones
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
1983 |
Authors: |
David A. Blizard |
Publication/Journal: |
Animal Behaviour |
Keywords: |
rat, running wheel |
ISBN: |
0003-3472 |
Abstract:
I compared the effect of oestradiol benzoate (OB) administration on running-wheel activity in gonadectomized male, female and neonatally androgenized female rats. In the first experiment, conducted on 300-400-day-old animals, OB stimulated running-wheel activity of female rats to a significantly greater extent than that of males or neonatally androgenized females. In the second experiment, conducted on 91-day-old rats, females exhibited maximal activity at lower doses of OB than males. Previous experiments have shown that open-field activity, a putative measure of susceptibility to fear, is subject to group differences in OB responsiveness (i.e. between male, female, androgenized female) which parallel those seen in the present study; thus, gender differences in open-field activity may reflect group differences in general activity rather than male/female differences in emotionality or susceptibility to fear.