Active avoidance training of rats with experimental diabetes mellitus

Specific features of training the rats in a new form of defense behavior in insulin deficiency in animal body were under study. Experiments were carried out with 51 male Wistar rats, 24 of these with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. The method of bilateral active avoidance with acoustic signal stimulation, followed by electric stimulation of the skin, was employed. The curves of training, reflecting the time course of the number of effective behavioral acts, were analyzed, and the parameters of the shape of the individual curves of training estimated to classify the animals, making use of analysis of factors. A significant variability of the examined individual parameters of training was associated with the absence of noticeable differences in the approximated results of examinations of intact and streptozotocin-treated rats. Analysis of factors helped single out a group of rats with streptozotocin induced diabetes among the groups of animals that were characterized by similar training parameters, that could sooner learn a new habit after a longer latent period as against intact animals.