Behavioral Testing in Animals Part 2: Which Behavior Test?

https://amuzainc.com Understanding how to choose the right behavioral test for your experiment is crucial. In this video, we will help you understand how to choose the right behavioral test for your research. There are a variety of mazes and operant tests that can be used to examine learning and memory in rodents. Today I will explain the most common tests used and what they measure. All of the tests mentioned in this video are available through AMUZA. If you have questions about a particular test or would like to learn more about pricing, please connect with an expert today! The T-Maze spontaneous alternation test can be used to measure exploratory behavior. Rodents typically prefer to visit a new arm of the maze rather than a familiar one. The T-Maze can also be used to measure spatial working memory, by placing a reward at the end of one arm of the maze and then alternating the reward. The animal must learn that the arm that was previously not rewarded now is. The Y-Maze is very similar to the T-Maze with the exception that each of the arms is evenly spaced. The Y-Maze is thought to be slightly easier for rodents to learn compared to the T-Maze. Maze systems are extremely useful for measuring hippocampal-related memory processing in both intact animals and in disease models like Alzheimer's. In addition to the standard t-maze and y-maze, at AMUZA we offer a unique Free Maze system that enables researchers to easily design and reconfigure up to eight different mazes in one, giving you much more bang for your buck! Fear Conditioning (FC) is a type of associative learning task in which experimental test subjects learn that a previously neutral stimulus is associated with an aversive stimulus (foot shock). This learning is evidenced by anticipated freezing in response to the previously neutral cue even in the absence of the foot shock. With fear conditioning, animals learn to fear both the stimulus and the context that the stimulus is presented in. This test can be used to measure hippocampal-dependent contextual memory as well as fear processing in the amygdala. Conditioned Place Preference: This is an operant test used to measure the motivational states that are connected to objects or experiences. You can measure both preference and avoidance by recording the amount of time the animal spends in the arena with the associated stimulus. This test is most commonly used to measure the rewarding and aversive effects of drugs. For these experiments, drugs are introduced in specific contexts, and then the animal is tested on how much time they spend in that particular context in the absence of the drug. Finally, I am going to go over a few examples of tests commonly used to measure addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders Startle Response or Prepulse Inhibition Test: Prepulse inhibition, also known as a reduction in startle response or PPI, is a phenomenon in which a weak stimulus (Prepulse) can suppress the startle response to a subsequent stronger startle stimulus (pulse). Impairments in PPI are thought to underlie impairments in sensorimotor gating, which is a common impairment seen in Schizophrenia. Typically the way it works is that an animal is placed into a cylindrical chamber and a startling acoustic stimulus is played. The latency of the animal’s startle response to both the prepulse and the pulse can then be quantified. The five-choice serial reaction time task, also known as the (5CSRTT) is commonly used to test attention and impulsivity in rodents. This task is typically carried out in an operant chamber, like our Touch Panel operant chamber, equipped with at least 5 holes. The task takes place within an operant chamber equipped with at least five holes (apertures). In this task, animals must correctly identify which of five holes has been illuminated via a nose poke. The time that the hole is illuminated can be shortened so that the animal must pay close attention in order to make the correct choice. Between trials, the experimental test subject must also inhibit responses to other holes until the next hole is illuminated. This task is quite useful for animal models of neuropsychiatric models like schizophrenia and autism. Questions about any of these tests or how to start running them in your lab today? Connect with an expert or send us an inquiry! We look forward to helping you with your research!