Abstract
Summary
Rats from two inbred strains with opposite genetic predispositions to hypertension had different behavior patterns after a standard change in their environment. After removal of the cage lid, the number of “explorations” and “crossings” between two adjacent cages were consistently higher in the strain resistant to hypertension than in the strain prone to hypertension (p < .01). This difference in behavior was present in young rats before experimental hypertension was produced indicating that the behavioral pattern was not the result of the hypertension. It is not yet clear that these behavioral differences play a direct role in the sharply different proclivities to hypertension present in the two strains of rat.
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