Aggression, body temperature, and stress ulcer.

Female rats which were exposed to supine restraint plus cold for 3 hr and were able to bite a passing nylon brush, developed fewer gastric lesions as compared to control rats which were similarly restrained but did not have access to the aggressive biting response. A second study, wherein rats were exposed to two restraint sessions, replicated the results obtained from the first experiment. Core body temperature measures revealed that rats with access to the biting response were more successful in maintaining body temperature. The protective effect of aggression may thus be due to the reduction in restraint hypothermia and not necessarily the affective qualities of the aggressive response per se.