Fig 1.
A flow chart of the selection process of articles using tickling in rats from an original search of databases.
Table 1.
Specific Methods Used for Tickling Rats.
Table 2.
Tickling Dosage.
Table 3.
Rat and Housing Characteristics of Tickled Rats.
Fig 2.
The impact of tickling on various outcomes assessed by experiments with a control specific to tickling (N = 22). Green = positive results from tickling. Grey = no difference from tickling. Red = negative result from tickling.
Table 4.
Tickling Outcomes
Table 5.
Inter-Individual Differences in Tickling Outcomes.
Table 6.
Pharmacological Impacts on 50-kHz Vocalizations.
Table 7.
Differences in Tickling Outcomes in Bi-Directionally Selected Rats in Comparison to Randomly Bred Rats.
Fig 3.
Reporting Quality and Risk of Bias.
Reporting Quality was assessed by answered the question if any sort of randomization was reported in the methods section. Risk of Bias was assessed using a modified version of SYRCLE Risk of Bias Tool in 55 experiments that used rat tickling. Unclear risk indicates that studies did not report whether bias was mitigated or not. Low risk indicates there was proper bias mitigation. Medium risk indicates that only part of the randomization was reported or outcome assessment was blinded. High risk of bias indicates there was a clear indication of potential bias. Not applicable bias indicates that the source of bias was not relevant. For example, random allocation of animals when all animals received the same treatment at the same time.