Quantitative genetics and mouse behavior

Quantitative differences are observed for most complex behavioral and pharm acological traits within any population. Both environmental and genetic inf luences regulate such individual differences. The mouse has proven to be a superb model in which to investigate the genetic basis for quantitative dif ferences in complex behaviors. Genetically defined populations of mice, inc luding inbred strains, heterogeneous stocks, and selected lines, have been used effectively to document these genetic differences. Recently, quantitat ive trait loci methods have been applied to map the chromosomal regions tha t regulate variation with the goal of eventually identifying the gene polym orphisms that reside in these regions.