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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Serotonin, Motivation, And Playfulness In The Juvenile Rat, Stephen M. Siviy, Loren M. Deron, Chelsea R. Kasten
Serotonin, Motivation, And Playfulness In The Juvenile Rat, Stephen M. Siviy, Loren M. Deron, Chelsea R. Kasten
Psychology Faculty Publications
The effects of the selective 5HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT were assessed on the play behavior of juvenile rats. When both rats of the test pair were comparably motivated to play, the only significant effect of 8-OH-DPAT was for play to be reduced at higher doses. When there was a baseline asymmetry in playful solicitation due to a differential motivation to play and only one rat of the pair was treated, low doses of 8-OH-DPAT resulted in a collapse of asymmetry in playful solicitations. It did not matter whether the rat that was treated initially accounted for more nape contacts or fewer …
Sensory Modulation Of Juvenile Play In Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Jaak Panksepp
Sensory Modulation Of Juvenile Play In Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Jaak Panksepp
Psychology Faculty Publications
A series of experiments was conducted to determine the extent to which somatosensory stimulation is necessary for the elaboration of juvenile play in rats. Anesthetization of the dorsal body surface of juvenile rats with xylocaine reduced the frequency of pinning, an indicator variable for play, by 35% to 70%, while motivation to play, measured by dorsal contacts, an index of play solicitation, remained largely intact. These data suggest that dorsal body surface anesthetization impairs the ability of juvenile rats to perceive and/or respond to playful gestures. When untreated animals were paired with xylocaine-treated animals, the xylocaine-treated animals consistently pinned the …