Influence of colony lighting conditions on home-cage spontaneous aggression.

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Abstract
The effects of colony lighting conditions on home-cage aggression were examined and the relation among measures of home-cage aggressive behavior and shock-induced aggression were determined. Rats were maintained under either a light/dark (LD) cycle or a continuous light (LL) schedule. For cages of LD rats the highest rates of home-cage aggression occurred during the dark segment of the light cycle whereas the lowest rates of aggression characterized the light segment. In contrast, the rate of home-cage aggression was low and constant across time periods for cages of LL rats. Reflecting these differences between lighting conditions, regression analyses identified a periodic trend following the fundamental sine curve in the home-cage aggression data from cages of LD rats but not in the data from cages of LL rats. The relation between individual differences in home-cage aggression and shock-induced aggression was time dependent for pairs of LD rats. Correlations based on scores of home-cage aggression and shock-induced aggression obtained during the dark segment were positive and statistically significant. Correlations of these 2 aggressive behaviors based on scores obtained during the light segment were not statistically significant. For pairs of LL rats, no time-dependent pattern in the relation of home-cage aggression to shock-induced aggression was observed.

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