Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Pawlowicz, A., Demner, A., Lewis, M. H. 2010. Effects of access to voluntary wheel running on the development of stereotypy. Behavioural Processes 83(3), 242-246.

Stereotyped motor behaviors are a common consequence of environmental restriction in a wide variety of species. Although environmental enrichment has been shown to substantially reduce stereotypy levels, the various components of enrichment have not been...

Oteham, C. P. 2010. Effects of specific environmental enrichment contributing to litter size and attrition rate of TRP1/TGfβ transgenic mice in a breeding colony. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 698 (Abstract #P51).

In previous studies of environmental enrichment of mice it has been determined that certain types of mice are affected by manipulation of their living environment. Some have effects on cognitive memory and some affect the...

Li, W. J., Yu, H., Yang, J. M. et al. 2010. Anxiolytic effect of music exposure on BDNFMet/Met transgenic mice. Brain Research 1347, 71-79.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been reported to play important roles in the modulation of anxiety, mood stabilizers, and pathophysiology of affective disorders. Recently, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the BDNF gene (Val66Met) has...

Hurst, J. L., West, R. S. 2010. Taming anxiety in laboratory mice. Nature Methods 7(10), 825-826.

Handling experience (which includes routine maintenance) can have positive or negative effects on stress responses that influence experiments, depending on the animals' experience during handling. The most common method used to capture and handle laboratory...

Howard, B., Nevalainen, T., Perretta, G. (ed). 2010. The COST Manual of Laboratory Animal Care and Use: Refinement, Reduction, and Research (1st Ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

COST Action B-24 established four working groups to research and discuss issues relevant to laboratory animal science. These included the housing of animals, environmental needs, refinement of procedures, genetically modified animals, and cost-benefit analysis. Based...

Harper, V., Frey, A., Bradley, D. et al. 2010. Recognizing and addressing stereotypic behaviors. Tech Talk [The Newsletter for Laboratory Animal Science Technicians] 15(4), 2.

The combination of mouse igloos and running wheels proved to be highly effective in reducing flipping, circling, and jumping.

Harkness, J. E., Turner, P. V., Vande Woude, S. et al. 2010. Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents (5th Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, Iowa.

The Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents provides concise, up - to - date, reasonably comprehensive information to anyone concerned with the health, care, and management of rabbits and rodents. The book is intended...

Gardiner, M. 2010. Mouse welfare terms. Animal Technology and Welfare 9, 175-176.
Froberg-Fejko, K. M. 2010. Benefits of providing nesting material as a from of environmental enrichment for mice. Lab Animal 39(10), 326-327.

Husbandry conditions in a laboratory environment can be barren and monotonous. Improving those conditions by providing opportunities for laboratory mice to engage in species-specific behavior can improve their mental and physical well-being. Giving the animals...

Farmer, A. M. 2010. Housing, care and accommodation: An inspector's observation on how these can affect rodent welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 9, 94-96.

In my view it is vitally important that scientists and management pay attention to what animal technologists and care staff have to say about the care and requirements of experimental animals.

Emmott, M. 2010. Covance animal environmental enrichment programme: In-house enrichment items, their benefits and the process of implementation. Animal Technology and Welfare 9, 189-190.

Some enrichment objects for rats, rabbits, dogs and macaques are demonstrated.

Collier, R. D. 2010. Into the comfort zone - environmental enrichment for rodent metabolism cages. Animal Technology and Welfare 9, 183-185.

Several glass shelters for mice are described and demonstrated.

Coble, D. C., Martin, A. L., Perlman, J. E. et al. 2010. Rate of self-injurious behavior in buspirone-treated rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) across different levels of human activity in the environment. American Journal of Primatology 72(S1), 27-28. (33rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #7)

This study examined the effectiveness of an anxiolytic drug, buspirone, in rhesus macaques with a history of self-injurious behavior. ... However, self-biting was more prevalent during periods of high activity. Treatment with buspirone was not...

Camacho, J. N., Britz, W., Perlman, J. E. et al. 2010. Interactive enrichment housing for nonhuman primates. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 666 (Abstract #PS46).

Environmental enrichment is commonly provided to diversify an animal’s surroundings while maintained in captivity. Traditional enrichment approaches may not provide sufficient environmental complexity and cognitive stimulation. Consequently, housing was designed for laboratory nonhuman primates to...

Bentson, K. L., Crockett, C. M., Wahl, K. L. et al. 2010. Floating limb behaviors and self-biting are associated in laboratory monkeys. American Journal of Primatology 72(8), 725-733.

Early descriptions of floating limb behaviors in monkeys were associated with isolation rearing, a practice that ended more than two decades ago. The present authors named various forms of behaviors in which a leg is...

Bennett, A. J., Corcoran, C. A., Hardy, V. A. et al. 2010. Multidimensional cost-benefit analysis to guide evidence-based environmental enrichment: Providing bedding and foraging substrate to pen-housed monkeys. JAALAS 49(5), 571-577.

Refinement of animal care and housing is an important shared goal - and challenge - of the team of research, veterinary, and animal care personnel charged with ensuring the wellbeing of laboratory animals. This study...

Brown, C. 2010. Organic wheatgrass as environmental enrichment. Lab Animal 39(3), 74-75.

Environmental enrichment must be provided for the various animal species that are housed in laboratory animal facilities. Wheatgrass can be used as a natural form of enrichment that requires minimal preparation and effort. Wheatgrass is...

Baker, K. C. 2010. Retrospective assessment of pair formation in laboratory rhesus macaques: Refining partner selection. American Journal of Primatology 72(S1), 26-27. (33rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #4)

Isosexual pairings of caged adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at the Tulane National Primate Research Center are documented in detail. Data deriving from 186 introductions were used to explore variables that may be considered when...

Baker, K. C., Bloomsmith, M. A., Neu, K. et al. 2010. Positive reinforcement training as enrichment for singly housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Animal Welfare 19(3), 307-313.

Positive reinforcement training is one component of behavioural management employed to improve psychological well-being. There has been regulatory promotion to compensate for restricted social housing in part by providing human interaction to singly caged primates...

Bayne, K. 2010. Enrichment and behavioral management programs around the world. Enrichment Record 4, 4-7.

To do justice to the diverse approaches to enrichment and behavioral management around the world would entail a discussion beyond the limits of this publication. Therefore, guidelines and regulations in a representative sample of countries...

Zahorsky-Reeves, J., Castellani, L. W. 2010. Housing mice on corncob bedding verus hardwood chip may confound research models. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 655 (Abstract #PS2).

The result demonstrates that bedding material, a variable not often considered in research, could have profound influence on the data for many studies of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, or metabolism.

Taylor K. 2010. Reporting the implementation of the three Rs in European primate and mouse research papers: Are we making progress? Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 38(6), 495-517.

It is now more than 20 years since both Council of Europe Convention ETS123 and EU Directive 86/609/EEC were introduced, to promote the implementation of the Three Rs in animal experimentation and to provide guidance...

Latham, N., Mason, G. 2010. Frustration and perseveration in stereotypic captive animals: Is a taste of enrichment worse than none at all? Behavioural Brain Research 211(1), 96-104.

Stereotypic behaviours are common in animals in impoverished housing, arising from two complementary processes: (1) thwarted attempts to perform motivated behaviours; (2) forebrain dysfunction impeding normal behavioural inhibition. When enriched animals are moved to impoverished...

Krohn, T. C., Hansen, A. K. 2010. Mice prefer draught-free housing. Laboratory Animals 44(4), 370-372.

An increasing number of rodents are housed in individually ventilated cage (IVC) systems, as these seem to be very effective for the protection of animals against infections, as well as protecting the staff against allergens...

Rommeck, I., Anderson, K., Heagerty, A. et al. 2009. Risk factors and remediation of self-injurious and self-abuse behavior in rhesus macaques. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 12(1), 61-72.

Considered signs of decreased welfare--abnormal behaviors such as self-injury and self-abuse among nonhuman primates housed in the laboratory--may put into question the validity and reliability of scientific research using these animals as models. Providing environmental...