Neurobehavioural Methods Flashcards
What are the unconditioned methods of measuring depression and anxiety?
Open field, elevated plus/zero maze, barnes maze, social interaction, tail suspension and forced swim.
What would you expect to see in an open field test if a mouse was more anxious?
Less movement
What are the conditioned methods of measuring depression an anxiety?
Conditioned startle, learned helplessness, ative/passive avoidance and defensive burying.
What would you expect to see in a social interaction assay if an animal was more anxious?
Less sniffing of stranger or novel object/less social interaction.
How does the forced swim test measure depression?
The longer spent trying to escape the ore motivated/less depressed they are. It is also important to test the frequency and duration of the behaviour.
What would you expect to see during conditioned fear if a mouse is more anxious?
Longer fear extinction - however could be memory related.
What are the three addiction behavioural tests?
Self administration and conditioned place preference/aversion
What does the morris water maze measure?
Spatial memory - the time it takes to find the platform (escape latency) and speed.
What are the limitations of behavioural tests?
Dependent on animals not having any locomotor changes e.g. impaired movement, however this can be measured with open field or rotorod.
Drugs that induce sedative effects may slow movement.
