EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF RAT TICKLING ON STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOR, FEEDING BEHAVIOR, AND GHRELIN

Rat tickling is a technique that mimics rough-and-tumble play in rats aiming, to improve human-rat interactions. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of rat tickling on the development of stereotypic behavior, feeding behavior, and its biomarker, the hunger hormone ghrelin in socially house Wistar rats. Tickled rats were tickled every three days from the age of 31 days until 80 days. Stereotypic behavior, maintenance, locomotion and social behaviors were recorded for two consecutive days at the ages of 31, 55, and 80 days. Blood samples were also collected at these time-points for plasma ghrelin analysis. It was observed that as the rats grew older, stereotypic sniffing increased significantly in non-tickled rats but not in tickled rats. Furthermore, non-tickled rats spent more time walking and self-grooming, and less time resting as they grew older compared to tickled rats. Tickled rats spent significantly more time resting and feeding than non-tickled rats. Whereas non-tickled rats spent significantly more time stereotypic sniffing and self-grooming. Interestingly, tickled rats spent less time playing with each other compared to non-tickled rats. No significant changes were found in plasma ghrelin concentrations between groups or across ages. This study suggests that rat tickling attenuated the development of stereotypic behavior and influenced feeding behavior but was not associated with changes in plasma ghrelin concentrations.