Behavior of hypertensive and hyperactive rat strains: Hyperactivity is not unitarily determined

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is behaviorally hyperactive relative to the Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY). By breeding SHR with WKY, followed by inbreeding, two new strains have been developed in which hypertension seems to be separated from hyperactivity to novel stimuli: the WKHT and the WKHA strains. The main purpose of the present study was to determine which behavioral characteristics of SHR have been dissociated from the hypertensive trait in the WKHA strain. Male SHR, WKY, WKHT, and WKHA were subjected to three protocols: 1) Two forced-exploration tests, where the results showed that both the SHR and the WKHA rats were hyperactive. 2) A free-exploration open field, where the SHR was more active than the other strains, showing shorter latencies to leave the home cage, spending more time in the field, ambulating and rearing more. Furthermore, the WKHT behavior was more similar to the SHR behavior than the WKHA behavior. 3) A two-component schedule of reinforcement, where one component (fixed-interval 2 min) was signaled by houselight on and the other (extinction, EXT) by houselight off. In this test, the SHR behavior was markedly different from that of the three other strains: the fixed-interval scallop, the accelerated responding towards the end of the interval, was steeper in SHR than in the other groups. The SHR emitted more responses during the extinction component of the schedule. The SHR hyperactivity was dependent upon the reinforcement value of the water deliveries and was increased even further by sensory-reinforcing response feedback lights. Thus, the hyperactivity of the WKHA strain seems to be less pervasive than that of the SHR. It is concluded that both SHR and WKHA show increased reactivity to stimuli: SHR to stimuli acting as reinforcers and WKHA to novel, aversive stimuli.