Open-field sex differences prior to puberty in rats

Abstract

Female rats locomoted more, were less thigmotactic, and defecated less than males during open-field tests. These sex differences were observed several days before the occurrence of puberty in the females. Thus, sex differences in open-field locomotion follow a different developmental pattern than do sex differences in activity wheel locomotion, which appear only after puberty. This suggests that open-field locomotion and activity wheel locomotion are not expressions of the same underlying neural organization but are, rather, expressions of different neural programs. © 1980, The Psychonmic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.