Table 1.
Summary of strain specific traits.
| Tests/Traits | SD | SHR | WKY/NCrl | WKY/NHsd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/Anxiety to the open space | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| EP/Activity level | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| OF/Activity level | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| OF/Anxiety to the open space & preference to corners | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| OH/Avoidance to the open space or avoid the close proximity to objects | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| OH/Patrol the borders or indirect exploration of the objects in distance | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| OH/Preference to corners | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| OH, NO/Relative preference to the object zones vs the non-object zones in the center open area of the open field | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| NO/Relative preference to the novel vs the familiar objects | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| TC/Preference to novel rats | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| TC/Preference to the middle chambers | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| TC/Preference to the familiar rats | 4 | 1 | 4 | |
| TC/Avoidance to the familiar rats | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| HC/Activity level(rearing, fighting, etc) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| HC/Physical contact | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| HC/Self-grooming | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| USV/Number of Calls | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| USV/Habituation to the novel environmental stimulus | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
EP, elevated plus maze test; OF, open field activity; OH, object habituation; NO, novel object test; TC, three-chambered social interaction test; HC, home cage observation; USV, ultrasonic vocalization
Note: Four strains were ranked from 1 to 4 according to their behavioral differences with 4 meaning displaying the most of the traits and 1 being the least. Significant differences between the two WKY substrains were highlighted in red.