Bipolar manifestation of cataleptic reactions in rats

Breeding of GC rats for the predisposition to cataleptic freezing has increased not only the frequency, intensity, and duration of freezing, but also the proportion of irritable or nervous rats with enhanced anxiety, defensive behavior with vocalization, jerky running, and jumpiness. An increased amplitude of the startle reflex is a correlate of this nervousness. The results of the comparison of some behavioral characters in the nervous and freezing GC rats, as well as in S-1 and S-2 offspring from homogeneous crosses between nervous and freezing GC rats suggest that cataleptic freezing and nervousness are two poles of the same bipolar catatonic reaction. They have a common mechanism, with the alternative or preferential expression of one particular form of the reaction is determined by the external and internal environments or the set of modifier genes in the given individual.