Based on Sorge et al. 2014: Experimenter sex can alter behavioral baseline responses (Nature Methods)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261955007_Olfactory_exposure_to_males_including_men_causes_stress_and_related_analgesia_in_rodents
Article Olfactory exposure to males, including men, causes stress an...
I think it has also to do with the vocal tone of the handler !!! Some people don't talk much to their mice...But there is a very big difference in mouse when you take him out of his cage...if mouse recognizes the voice he appears to more adaptable to whatever procedure you are performing...which is possibly due to trust...and as mice do communicate with each other in and between cages so the experiences they have are likely to be shared
It seems that these effects of the sex of the experimenter are mild and last between 30 and 60 mins. Also they do the experiments with a male experimenter at 0.5 m of the rodents which is a rare procedure. Anyway, I think it is an interesting study that emphasizes the importance of handling and habituation to the experimenter.
I agree with you Raul. I think sufficient handling and habituation would minimize these already mild effects.
Un abrazo
I think it has also to do with the vocal tone of the handler !!! Some people don't talk much to their mice...But there is a very big difference in mouse when you take him out of his cage...if mouse recognizes the voice he appears to more adaptable to whatever procedure you are performing...which is possibly due to trust...and as mice do communicate with each other in and between cages so the experiences they have are likely to be shared
I had observed no difference in results of behavioral nociceptive test when they were done by male and female students. These results much more depend from climate conditions in laboratory, than from experimentator's gender.
Once we asked five technical assitants (man and woman) to do the same test (O-maze), which they never used before repeatedly in five consecutive days. We found a clear effect of repetition -as the assistants become familiar with the procedure (and probably their stress level sank) the animals became more relaxed and spent significantly more time in the open area in day 5 as in day 1. Sex effect we could not observe at all, although the n was obviously very low. So I do think that experience, stress level of the experimenter have much higher input on the outcome as sex.
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