[NFLUENCE OF SPONTANEOUS PARTIAL SENSORY DEPRIVATION ON MALE C57BL/6N MICE BEHAVIOR]

Vibrissae loss associated with the peculiarities of the intragroup social interaction may be an important factor affecting the animals’ performance in various behavioral tests. To evaluate the influence of spontaneous partial sensory deprivation as a consequence of the barbering activity of a cage mate, the battery of tests was conducted in male C57Bl/6N mice. The results indicate that the behavior of mice without vibrissae significantly differs from control animals in the tube, open field, social interaction and forced swim tests. Thus, the present findings suggest that vibrissae conditions have to be assessed before the inclusion of animals into experimental groups and/or further considered in data analysis.