Practical rat tickling: Determining an efficient and effective dosage of heterospecific play.
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Active play between humans and dogs may act as a modulator of excessive arousal, as heterospecific play in other species, such as rats, has been shown to reduce fear-related behavior.
“Active play between humans and dogs may act as a modulator of excessive arousal, as heterospecific play in other species, such as rats, has been shown to reduce fear-related behavior (54).”
From Combined enrichment and pharmaceutical intervention reduces excessive arousal in shelter dogs in a randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as [54]
Based on previous data from the authors' own and other work where treatments come closest to matching the proposed treatments, the most variable response measure is total 50 kHz USVs.
“Based on our previous data, the most variable response measure is total 50 kHz USVs with data taken from our own and other work ( LaFollette et al., 2018; Tivey et al., 2022) where treatments come closest to matching the proposed treatments.”
From Stage 2 Registered Report: Refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats (2025) · cites this paper as LaFollette et al., 2018
Cites
Policy: NIH to balance sex in cell and animal studies
Clayton, J. A., & Collins, F. S. (2014) · Nature · doi:10.1038/509282a · Cited by 1,816 · see citing works
Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare
Boissy, A., Manteuffel, G., Jensen, M. B., Moe, R. O., Spruijt, B., Keeling, L. J., Winckler, C., Forkman, B., Dimitrov, I., Langbein, J., et al. (2007) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.02.003 · Cited by 1,486 · see citing works
“Control” laboratory rodents are metabolically morbid: Why it matters
Martin, B., Ji, S., Maudsley, S., & Mattson, M. P. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0912955107 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Rat tickling: A systematic review of applications, outcomes, and moderators.
LaFollette, M. R., O’Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S., Blankenberger, W. B., & Gaskill, B. N. (2017) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0175320 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
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Who’s laughing? Play, tickling and ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.
Burke, C. J., Pellis, S. M., & Achterberg, E. J. M. (2022) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B · doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0184 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Bombail, V., Jerôme, N., Lam, H., Muszlak, S., Meddle, S. L., Lawrence, A. B., & Nielsen, B. L. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212829 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Sex differences in 50 kHz call subtypes emitted during tickling-induced playful behaviour in rats.
Tivey, E. K. L., Martin, J. E., Brown, S. M., Bombail, V., Lawrence, A. B., & Meddle, S. L. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-19362-7 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Bombail, V., Brown, S. M., Beyts, C., Martin, J. E., Li, T., Meddle, S. L., Mendl, M., Robinson, E. S., Hammond, T. J., Nielsen, B. L., et al. (2025) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.166417.2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationCisneros, A., O’Hanley, K., Moody, C. M., & Stellato, A. C. (2026) · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · doi:10.3389/fvets.2026.1931203
“Active play between humans and dogs may act as a modulator of excessive arousal, as heterospecific play in other species, such as rats, has been shown to reduce fear-related behavior (54).”
- Authors
- LaFollette, M. R., O’Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S., & Gaskill, B. N.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Corresponding author
- LaFollette, Megan R.
- Venue
- Applied Animal Behaviour Science
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 208
- Pages
- 82-91
- ISSN
- 0168-1591 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2888147575
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 3.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Applied Animal Behaviour Science (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Grants for Laboratory Animal Science (GLAS)
- Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal testing and alternatives
- Keywords
- rough-and-tumble play, 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, positive affect, handling stress, fecal corticosterone, approach behavior, social play, Long-Evans rats
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