ABSTRACT
Aggressive behavior has received extensive study under a wide range of environmental settings and experimental conditions. The experimental models used, the types of aggression measured, and the species tested, however, can vary considerably from study to study. Thus, it is often dif‰cult to compare results across a range of studies. Although a relatively large number of experimental paradigms have been developed to evaluate aggression in animal models, one of the most prevalent models of assessing offensive aggression has been the resident-intruder model. This model simulates rodent territorial aggression and involves introducing a group-housed, nonexperimental “intruder” into the home cage of an experimental animal, and the amount and duration of aggressive behavior (e.g., chases, attacks, bites) are subsequently recorded in a timed test. Another less-commonly employed but useful model is the neutral arena model, which involves placing two animals in a novel “neutral” cage and recording the amount of aggression directed toward each animal. In addition, this latter model has the added bene‰t of assessing the formation of dominance relationships among animals because “territories” have not been established at the time of testing.
