Deacon Robert M J
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK.
Nat Protoc. 2006;1(6):2828-30. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2006.171.
Hoarding is a species-typical behavior shown by rodents, as well as other animals. By hoarding, the rodent secures a food supply for times of emergency (for example, when threatened by a predator) or for times of seasonal adversity such as winter. Scatter hoarding, as seen typically in squirrels and birds, involves placing small caches of food in hidden places, generally underground. Most rodents, however, hoard a supply of food in or near the home base--for example, in 'larders' near the sleeping quarters in a burrow. In the laboratory, measurement of hoarding involves simply weighing the food transported into the home cage from an external source, but the route to that source must be secure and animal-proof; for example, there should be no holes large enough to permit escape of a mouse, and no weak points that could be enlarged by gnawing. A suitable and easily constructed apparatus is described in the protocol. Hoarding has been shown to be sensitive to brain lesions and pharmacological agents, and is a suitable test for species-typical behavior in genetically modified mice.
囤积行为是啮齿动物以及其他动物所表现出的一种典型物种行为。通过囤积，啮齿动物为紧急情况（例如，受到捕食者威胁时）或季节性逆境（如冬季）确保食物供应。典型的如松鼠和鸟类的分散囤积，是将少量食物藏于隐蔽之处，通常是地下。然而，大多数啮齿动物会在巢穴内或附近囤积食物供应——例如，在洞穴中睡眠区域附近的“贮藏室”。在实验室中，测量囤积行为只需称取从外部来源运入饲养笼的食物重量，但通往该来源的路径必须安全且防动物逃脱；例如，不应有大到足以让老鼠逃脱的洞，也不应有可被啃咬扩大的薄弱点。方案中描述了一种合适且易于构建的装置。囤积行为已被证明对脑部损伤和药物敏感，是转基因小鼠典型物种行为的合适测试。
