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. 
Mieske, P., Hobbiesiefken, U., Fischer-Tenhagen, C. et al. 2022. Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 899219.

Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans...

Cait, J., Cait, A., Scott, R. W. et al. 2022. Conventional laboratory housing increases morbidity and mortality in research rodents: Results of a meta-analysis. BMC Biology 20(1), 15.

Over 120 million mice and rats are used annually in research, conventionally housed in shoebox-sized cages that restrict natural behaviours (e.g. nesting and burrowing). This can reduce physical fitness, impair thermoregulation and reduce welfare (e.g...

Molina, S. J., Lietti, Á. E., Carreira Caro, C. S. et al. 2022. Effects of early noise exposure on hippocampal-dependent behaviors during adolescence in male rats: Influence of different housing conditions. Animal Cognition 25(1), 103–120.

Central nervous system (CNS) development is a very complex process that can be altered by environmental stimuli such as noise, which can generate long-term auditory and/or extra-auditory impairments. We have previously reported that early noise...

Whitbread, S. 2022. Some observations on the use of transparent barriers. RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 49(3), 9-13.

What follows are some case studies in which solid but transparent barriers have been used successfully to provide a sense of security to three different mammal taxa (three-banded armadillo; Kirk’s dikdik; black rat) to reduce...

Costa, R., Carvalho, M. S. M., Brandão, J. D. P. et al. 2021. Modulatory action of environmental enrichment on hormonal and behavioral responses induced by chronic stress in rats: Hypothalamic renin-angiotensin system components. Behavioural Brain Research 397, 112928.

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been studied as a protocol that can improve brain plasticity and may protect against negative insults such as chronic stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of...

Oatess, T. L., Harrison, F. E., Himmel, L. E. et al. 2021. Effects of acrylic tunnel enrichment on anxiety-like behavior, neurogenesis, and physiology of C57BL/6J mice. JAALAS 60(1), 44-53.

Environmental enrichment for mice lags behind the standard enrichment offered to other laboratory rodents due to concerns about environmental variability and, in specific contexts, aggression. Our objective in this study was to evaluate concerns that...

Schalbetter, S. M., Mueller, F. S., Scarborough, J. et al. 2021. Oral application of clozapine-N-oxide using the micropipette-guided drug administration (MDA) method in mouse DREADD systems. Lab Animal 50, 69-75.

The designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) system is one of the most widely used chemogenetic techniques to modulate the activity of cell populations in the brains of behaving animals. DREADDs are activated...

Teixeira-Santos, L., Albino-Teixeira, A., Pinho, D. 2021. An alternative method for oral drug administration by voluntary intake in male and female mice. Laboratory Animals 55(1), 76-80.

Drug administration to experimental rodents is often invasive and stressful, thus reducing animal welfare and potentially confounding experimental results. Methods of oral drug delivery in which rodents cooperate voluntarily minimize stress, pain and morbidity. We herein...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Ice cream cone spiced foraging cups. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 36.

This DIY snack is great for NHPs and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Ice produce blocks. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(2) (March/April), 41.

This great cool-down snack is ideal for group or singly housed swine or nonhuman primates (particularly in larger pen-style housing). This item can be customized for canines as well by modifying the liquid used and/or...

Monnas, J. 2021. DIY: Creating a rat play cage. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(2) (March/April), 46-48.

To provide extra enrichment for our training rats (Sprague Dawley; CRL: SD), our team discussed the idea of developing a rat play cage. Animals are housed in the Comparative Bioscience Center at The Rockefeller University...

Li, J.-Y., Kuo, T. B. J., Hung, C.-T. et al. 2021. Voluntary exercise enhances hippocampal theta rhythm and cognition in the rat. Behavioural Brain Research 399, 112916.

Regular exercise promotes learning and memory functions. Theta activity is known to relate to various cognitive functions. An increase in theta power may be related to higher cognitive functioning and learning functions. However, evidence is...

Adcock, A., Choleris, E., Denommé, M. et al. 2021. Where are you from? Female mice raised in enriched or conventional cages differ socially, and can be discriminated by other mice. Behavioural Brain Research 400, 113025.

Laboratory rodents raised in environmentally-enriched (EE) cages differ behaviourally and cognitively from conventionally-housed (CH) animals. We hypothesised that mice can detect such differences, testing this using differentially-raised female C57BL/6 s as subjects, and differentially-raised female...

Fischer, M. L., Rodrigues, G. S., Aguero, W. P. et al. 2021. Refinement as ethics principle in animal research: Is it necessary to standardize the environmental enrichment in laboratory animals? Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 93(1), e20191526.

The Environmental enrichment technique, although scientifically recognized for raising the level of animal welfare, has led to the questioning of its influence on the results of experimental research. Thus, the goal is to promote reflection...

Vaglio, S., Kaburu, S. S. K., Pearce, R. et al. 2021. Effects of scent enrichment on behavioural and physiological indicators of stress in zoo primates. American Journal of Primatology 83(5), e23247.

Captive breeding is vital for primate conservation, with modern zoos serving a crucial role in breeding populations of threatened species and educating the general public. However, captive populations can experience welfare issues that may also...

Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Smulders, T. V. et al. 2021. Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 21-33.

The RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 27 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share...

van der Geest, J. N., Spoor, M., Frens, M. A. 2021. Environmental enrichment improves vestibular oculomotor learning in mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 15, 676416.

We assessed the behavioral effects of environmental enrichment on contrast sensitivity, reflexive eye movements and on oculomotor learning in mice that were housed in an enriched environment for a period of 3 weeks. Research has...

Moody, C. M., Paterson, E. A. Leroux-Petersen, D. et al. 2021. Using paper nest pucks to prevent barbering in C57BL/6 mice. JAALAS 60(2), 133-138.

Little research has been conducted to examine the influence of various methods of providing nest materials—such as dispersing them, providing them as single units, or clustering them—on the behavior and welfare of group-housed mice. In...

Edwards, J., Olson, B., Marks, D.L. 2021. Constructing and programming a cost-effective murine running wheel with digital revolution counter. Lab Animal 50, 202-204.

Voluntary wheel running is a valuable metabolic intervention and well-established measure of physical activity in preclinical rodent models. Herein, we describe detailed assembly instructions and provide necessary resources for researchers to build their own running...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Acacia gum sealed paper straws. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 37.

This DIY snack is great for NHP and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Dehydrated watermelon training chips. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(4) (July/August), 48.

This simple DIY training treat is great for NHP, swine, rabbits, rodents, and dogs. Note that dehydrated watermelon may resemble muscle tissue!

Carter, M., Sherwen, S., Webber, S. 2021. An evaluation of interactive projections as digital enrichment for orangutans. Zoo Biology 40(2), 107-114.

Digital technologies are increasingly being incorporated into the provision of enrichment for captive primates, ranging from the ad-hoc use of iPads to specifically designed hardware installed in the design of new exhibits. In this article...

Satokar, V., Vickers, M., Bridge-Comer, P. et al. 2021. Emulsified gels: A refined vehicle for accurate and rapid oral administration of lipid based preparations to rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 95-103.

Oro-gastric gavage is used to accurately administer nutritional substances or drugs to animals. However, it induces stress and has a substantial risk of mishap. Incorporation into edible gels is difficult for lipid-based preparations. We report...

Windsor, Z. 2021. Refinements in head plate mouse nesting: Using composite nests to enhance welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 135-141.

When given the opportunity, mice will choose to build nests using multiple different materials. Studies indicate that providing mice with choices which mimic the natural environment allows laboratory mice to build the best quality nests...