Stress
This chapter examines stress models in the rat using the biology of the rat and its natural defense mechanisms as a starting point. It focuses on tests that explore the capacity of rats to cope with ecologically relevant problems. Stress models challenge the natural defense mechanisms and hence call on the adaptive capacity of the animal. However, rather than pushing the animal toward a stress physiological ceiling, it might be far more informative to explore the natural factors that determine and modulate the individual adaptive capacity. These factors include not only perinatal and adult (social) experience but also factors that affect the speed of recovery after a stressor.
Keywords: laboratory rats, stress models, stress response, defence mechanisms, ecology, adaptive capacity
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