A BEHAVIORAL PROFILE OF BILATERAL ANOPHTHALMIC MUTANT RATS

A behavioral profile of hereditary bilateral anophthalmic mutant rat w as studied in different light: dark schedules. The control and mutant rats were acclimatized to either a) a 12h light:12h dark cycle or b) c ontinuous darkness or c) continuous illumination. The measurements of spontaneous motor activity with Opto Varimex and behavioral despair in a swim test were conducted. The daily food consumption and plasma glu cose levels were also measured. The study indicated that, unlike the c ontrol rats, mutants did not exhibit any time dependent change in the spontaneous motor activity in any of the three different lighting cond itions. A strong biphasic feeding burst was also not affected by anoph thalmia in mutant rats. Our findings on spontaneous motor activity and the feeding pattern are contrary to those in the existing literature.