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Cited by 27Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsStress Responses and Cortisol

Social housing of rats: Life-span effects on reaction time, exploration, weight, and longevity

Menich, Stephen R., Baron, Alan·1984·Experimental Aging Research
DOI 10.1080/03610738408258550
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Abstract

Sprague-Dawley rats were housed throughout their lives either in group cages or singly in standard laboratory cages. Locomotor activity was observed at selected ages and, in addition, operant conditioning procedures were used with an extensively trained subset of the animals to study reaction time and fixed ratio responding. The major effect of prolonged isolation was to induce timidity and inactivity during open field and emergence tests. Responding by isolates was depressed relative to socially-housed animals at 13 and 19 months of age although the higher levels of the social animals progressively declined during tests at 19 and 25 months. By comparison, neither housing condition nor age (7 to 25 months) systematically influenced the well-practiced operant responses (response rates, postreinforcement pauses, reaction times, foreperiod responses). A serendipitous finding was that isolated animals tended to die at earlier ages, an outcome that may be related to the fact that isolates also tended to weigh more throughout the experiment.

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  • In controlled laboratory settings, social contact is linked to longer lifespan across many social species, including insects, rodents, and primates.

    “Even in controlled laboratory environments (where external threats to survival are absent), the presence of social contact is associated with increased lifespan across a range of social species including honeybees, ants, Drosophila melanogaster22,23, mice24,25, and rats26–28, as well as in free-ranging groups of macaques29, and baboons30.”

    From Neural mechanisms of social homeostasis (2019) · cites this paper as [27]

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Authors
Menich, S. R., & Baron, A.
Affiliations
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (US)
Venue
Experimental Aging Research
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
1984-06
Volume
10
Issue
2
Pages
95-100
ISSN
  • 0361-073X (ISSN-L)
  • 1096-4657
DOI
10.1080/03610738408258550
OpenAlex
W2025211638
Cited by
27
References
18
Citations by year
2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI
5.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Experimental Aging Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
social housing, isolation, rats, longevity, reaction time, operant responding, timidity, locomotor activity, exploration, body weight, aging, fixed-ratio responding, post-reinforcement pause
MeSH terms
Age Factors, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Body Weight, Conditioning, Operant, Exploratory Behavior, Female, Longevity, Male, Rats, Inbred Strains, Reaction Time, Social Environment, Rats

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