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References from Heterospecific play, or rat tickling, enhances positive affect towards humans without altering anxiety-related behaviors in female and male Sprague Dawley rats. Local targets link to admitted publications; unresolved targets remain external evidence.
Handling method alters the hedonic value of reward in laboratory mice
10.1038/s41598-018-20716-3 · 2018 · External reference
Mouse handling limits the impact of stress on metabolic endpoints
10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.06.021 · 2015 · External reference
Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels
10.1371/journal.pone.0066401 · 2013 · External reference
Improving the practicality of using non-aversive handling methods to reduce background stress and anxiety in laboratory mice
10.1038/s41598-019-56860-7 · 2019 · External reference
Taming anxiety in laboratory mice
10.1038/nmeth.1500 · 2010 · External reference
Laboratory animal welfare and human attitudes: a cross-sectional survey on heterospecific play or rat tickling
10.1371/journal.pone.0220580 · 2019 · External reference
Changing Human behavior to improve animal welfare: a longitudinal investigation of training laboratory animal personnel about heterospecific play or rat tickling
2020 · External reference
Getting a handle on rat familiarization: the impact of handling protocols on classic tests of stress in Rattus norvegicus
10.1177/00236772221142687 · 2023 · External reference
Handling of adolescent rats improves learning and memory and decreases anxiety
2012 · External reference
The influence of handling and isolation postweaning on open field, exploratory and maternal behavior of female rats
10.1016/s0031-9384(02)00661-3 · 2002 · External reference
Handling and isolation in three strains of rats affect open field, exploration, hoarding and predation
10.1016/s0031-9384(97)00312-0 · 1997 · External reference
Use of a conditioning technique to reduce stress associated with repeated intra-peritoneal injections in laboratory rats
10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.003 · 2008 · External reference
The social buffering effect of playful handling on responses to repeated intraperitoneal injections in laboratory rats
2014 · External reference
Playful handling of laboratory rats is more beneficial when applied before than after routine injections
10.1016/j.applanim.2014.12.012 · 2015 · External reference
The ontogeny of play in rats
10.1002/dev.420140405 · 1981 · External reference
Targets and tactics: the analysis of moment-to-moment decision making in animal combat
10.1002/(sici)1098-2337(1997)23:2<107::aid-ab3>3.0.co;2-k · 1997 · External reference
Play-fighting differs from serious fighting in both target of attack and tactics of fighting in the laboratory rat Rattus norvegicus
10.1002/1098-2337(1987)13:4<227::aid-ab2480130406>3.0.co;2-c · 1987 · External reference
Tickling, a technique for inducing positive affect when handling rats
10.3791/57190 · 2018 · External reference
Ultrasonic vocalizations of rats (Rattus norvegicus) during mating, play, and aggression: behavioral concomitants, relationship to reward, and self-administration of playback
10.1037/a0012889 · 2008 · External reference
Tickling induces reward in adolescent rats
10.1016/s0031-9384(00)00411-x · 2001 · External reference
Crying with laughter: adapting the tickling protocol to address individual differences among rats in their response to playful handling
10.3389/fvets.2021.677872 · 2021 · External reference
Rat tickling: a systematic review of applications, outcomes, and moderators
10.1371/journal.pone.0175320 · 2017 · External reference
Rat 50 kHz calls reflect graded tickling-induced positive emotion
10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.038 · 2020 · External reference
Anticipation of play elicits high-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations in young rats
10.1037/0735-7036.112.1.65 · 1998 · External reference
The sexual differentiation of social play
10.1016/0166-2236(88)90164-6 · 1988 · External reference
Sex differences in play fighting revisited: traditional and nontraditional mechanisms of sexual differentiation in rats
10.1023/a:1014070916047 · 2002 · External reference
Multiple differences in the play fighting of male and female rats. Implications for the causes and functions of play
10.1016/0149-7634(95)00060-7 · 1997 · External reference
Differential rates of attack, defense, and counterattack during the developmental decrease in play fighting by male and female rats
10.1002/dev.420230303 · 1990 · External reference
Brain sex differences and the organisation of juvenile social play behaviour
10.1111/j.1365-2826.2009.01871.x · 2009 · External reference
Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on play fighting in rats: effects of dominance, partner’s playfulness, temperament and neonatal exposure to testosterone propionate
10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80295-5 · 1992 · External reference
Stage 2 registered report: refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats
10.12688/f1000research.166417.2 · 2025 · External reference
Ultrasonic vocalization in juvenile and adult male rats: a comparison among stocks
10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.023 · 2018 · External reference
Ultrasonic vocalization in female rats: a comparison among three outbred stocks from pups to adults
10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.08.009 · 2018 · External reference
Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses
10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106077 · 2023 · External reference
Communication of adult rats by ultrasonic vocalization: biological, sociobiological, and neuroscience approaches
10.1093/ilar.50.1.43 · 2009 · External reference
Pro-social ultrasonic communication in rats: insights from playback studies
10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.01.023 · 2014 · External reference
Human–animal interactions and animal welfare in conventionally and pen-housed rats
10.1258/002367702320162388 · 2002 · External reference
Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats
10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.034 · 2025 · External reference
Practical rat tickling: determining an efficient and effective dosage of heterospecific play
10.1016/j.applanim.2018.08.005 · 2018 · External reference
Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?
10.1016/s0031-9384(03)00159-8 · 2003 · External reference
Tickling-induced 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization is individually stable and predicts behaviour in tests of anxiety and depression in rats
10.1016/j.bbr.2007.06.015 · 2007 · External reference
Sex differences in 50 kHz call subtypes emitted during tickling-induced playful behaviour in rats
10.1038/s41598-022-19362-7 · 2022 · External reference
Sex differences in the enjoyment of enrichment: affective bias testing confirms female rats prefer more playful and less vigorous tickling
10.1098/rsbl.2026.0075 · 2026 · External reference
Playful handling by caretakers reduces fear of humans in the laboratory rat
10.1016/j.applanim.2012.06.001 · 2012 · External reference
Targets and tactics: the analysis of moment-to-moment decision making in animal combat
10.1002/(sici)1098-2337(1997)23:2<107::aid-ab3>3.0.co;2-k · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Play-fighting differs from serious fighting in both target of attack and tactics of fighting in the laboratory rat Rattus norvegicus
10.1002/1098-2337(1987)13:4<227::aid-ab2480130406>3.0.co;2-c · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
The ontogeny of play in rats
10.1002/dev.420140405 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Differential rates of attack, defense, and counterattack during the developmental decrease in play fighting by male and female rats
10.1002/dev.420230303 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Multiple differences in the play fighting of male and female rats. Implications for the causes and functions of play
10.1016/0149-7634(95)00060-7 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
The sexual differentiation of social play
10.1016/0166-2236(88)90164-6 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Use of a conditioning technique to reduce stress associated with repeated intra-peritoneal injections in laboratory rats
10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.003 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Playful handling by caretakers reduces fear of humans in the laboratory rat
10.1016/j.applanim.2012.06.001 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Playful handling of laboratory rats is more beneficial when applied before than after routine injections
10.1016/j.applanim.2014.12.012 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Practical rat tickling: determining an efficient and effective dosage of heterospecific play
10.1016/j.applanim.2018.08.005 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Lifting laboratory rats: a survey of methods, handlers’ reasons and concerns, and rat behavioural responses
10.1016/j.applanim.2023.106077 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Tickling-induced 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalization is individually stable and predicts behaviour in tests of anxiety and depression in rats
10.1016/j.bbr.2007.06.015 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Rat 50 kHz calls reflect graded tickling-induced positive emotion
10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.038 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Oxytocin facilitates human touch-induced play behavior in rats
10.1016/j.cub.2025.05.034 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Pro-social ultrasonic communication in rats: insights from playback studies
10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.01.023 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Mouse handling limits the impact of stress on metabolic endpoints
10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.06.021 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Ultrasonic vocalization in juvenile and adult male rats: a comparison among stocks
10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.023 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Ultrasonic vocalization in female rats: a comparison among three outbred stocks from pups to adults
10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.08.009 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Tickling induces reward in adolescent rats
10.1016/s0031-9384(00)00411-x · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
The influence of handling and isolation postweaning on open field, exploratory and maternal behavior of female rats
10.1016/s0031-9384(02)00661-3 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?
10.1016/s0031-9384(03)00159-8 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Handling and isolation in three strains of rats affect open field, exploration, hoarding and predation
10.1016/s0031-9384(97)00312-0 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Intrinsic and extrinsic influences on play fighting in rats: effects of dominance, partner’s playfulness, temperament and neonatal exposure to testosterone propionate
10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80295-5 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Sex differences in play fighting revisited: traditional and nontraditional mechanisms of sexual differentiation in rats
10.1023/a:1014070916047 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Anticipation of play elicits high-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations in young rats
10.1037/0735-7036.112.1.65 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Ultrasonic vocalizations of rats (Rattus norvegicus) during mating, play, and aggression: behavioral concomitants, relationship to reward, and self-administration of playback
10.1037/a0012889 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Taming anxiety in laboratory mice
10.1038/nmeth.1500 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Handling method alters the hedonic value of reward in laboratory mice
10.1038/s41598-018-20716-3 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Improving the practicality of using non-aversive handling methods to reduce background stress and anxiety in laboratory mice
10.1038/s41598-019-56860-7 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Sex differences in 50 kHz call subtypes emitted during tickling-induced playful behaviour in rats
10.1038/s41598-022-19362-7 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Communication of adult rats by ultrasonic vocalization: biological, sociobiological, and neuroscience approaches
10.1093/ilar.50.1.43 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Sex differences in the enjoyment of enrichment: affective bias testing confirms female rats prefer more playful and less vigorous tickling
10.1098/rsbl.2026.0075 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Brain sex differences and the organisation of juvenile social play behaviour
10.1111/j.1365-2826.2009.01871.x · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Getting a handle on rat familiarization: the impact of handling protocols on classic tests of stress in Rattus norvegicus
10.1177/00236772221142687 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Human–animal interactions and animal welfare in conventionally and pen-housed rats
10.1258/002367702320162388 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Stage 2 registered report: refinement of tickling protocols to improve positive animal welfare in laboratory rats
10.12688/f1000research.166417.2 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels
10.1371/journal.pone.0066401 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Rat tickling: a systematic review of applications, outcomes, and moderators
10.1371/journal.pone.0175320 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Laboratory animal welfare and human attitudes: a cross-sectional survey on heterospecific play or rat tickling
10.1371/journal.pone.0220580 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Crying with laughter: adapting the tickling protocol to address individual differences among rats in their response to playful handling
10.3389/fvets.2021.677872 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
Tickling, a technique for inducing positive affect when handling rats
10.3791/57190 · ExternalCitation · doi-reference
