Body temperature as a conditional response measure for Pavlovian fear conditioning

On six days rats were exposed to each of two contexts. They received an ele ctric shock in one context and nothing in the other. Rats were tested later in each environment without shock. The rats froze and defecated more often in the shock-paired environment; the) also exhibited a significantly large r elevation in rectal temperature in that environment. The rats discriminat ed between each context, and we suggest that the elevation in temperature i s the consequence of associative learning. Thus, body temperature can be us ed as a conditional response measure in Pavlovian fear conditioning experim ents that use footshock as the unconditional stimulus.