Shigeta S, Misawa T, Yoshida T, Aikawa H, Momotani H, Miyake K
Department of Environmental Medicine and Occupational Health, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Yakubutsu Seishin Kodo. 1989 Jun;9(2):217-24.
The neurobehavioral characteristics of the Tokai High-Avoider (THA) rats, which had an innate high-avoidance ability, were clarified by comparing with the Wistar rats from which the THA rat strain had been derived. THA rats performed superior learning and displayed small individual differences of learning performance, not only in the Sidman avoidance task, which had already been used in selective breeding, but also in two different tasks, namely water maze and two-way shuttle avoidance. No apparent difference was present in development, circadian rhythm, and open-field activity between the two strains. On the other hand, sensitivity of the THA rat to electric shock or to heat stress was less than that of the Wistar rat. From these results, it might be considered that the high and uniform avoidance performance exhibited in the THA rat was caused by an innately acquired ability but not by sensitivity to the shock or developmental differences.
通过与培育出东海高回避型（THA）大鼠品系的Wistar大鼠进行比较，明确了具有先天高回避能力的THA大鼠的神经行为特征。THA大鼠不仅在已用于选择性育种的Sidman回避任务中，而且在水迷宫和双向穿梭回避这两种不同任务中，都表现出卓越的学习能力，且学习成绩的个体差异较小。两品系在发育、昼夜节律和旷场活动方面没有明显差异。另一方面，THA大鼠对电击或热应激的敏感性低于Wistar大鼠。从这些结果来看，或许可以认为，THA大鼠表现出的高度一致的回避能力是由先天获得的能力引起的，而非对电击的敏感性或发育差异所致。
