Effects of auditory stress on grooming dominance in the rat

Two experiments examined the effects of high-intensity white noise on the subsequent monopolization of mutual grooming by dominant members of male rat pairs. Only in cases where dominants were subjected to acoustic stress in the absence of another rat did they manifest a reduction in subsequent grooming behavior. Stressed in the company of either their own submissive partners or randomly selected rats, dominants continued to monopolize mutual grooming activity. The data emphasized the relevance of the social context in which stress is administered for the consequent social reactivity of the laboratory rat.