![assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze](https://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2F21645/MediaObjects/41586_1999_Article_BF21645_Fig1_HTML.gif)
- #ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE MANUAL#
- #ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE SOFTWARE#
- #ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE PLUS#
- #ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE TV#
- #ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE DOWNLOAD#
In addition, it may also provide (3) the frequency, (4) location and (5) time spent performing other recorded behaviors. At video playback, the behavior is recorded by pressing the specified key to indicate the beginning of the behavior and releasing the key to indicate the end of the behavior.Īfter the scoring session, data reports may provide (1) the frequency of entries into each square and (2) the time spent in each square. For this feature, the researcher previously defines a behavior and designates an alphanumeric key to it.
#ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE SOFTWARE#
In addition to the sequence of displacements and location of the rat, the software also allows the recording of any other kind of behavior that may be of interest to the researcher. The square indicating the animal’s position turns red, contrasting with the remaining white squares.
#ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE TV#
The user then watches the video in a TV or monitor adjacent to the computer monitor with the software, and records the displacements from one square to another by pressing the arrow keys indicating the direction of the displacement. The software exhibits a representation of the divided maze according to the divisions in the transparent sheet.
#ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE PLUS#
For example, in the EPM, the floor image can be divided into five 10-cm squares per arm plus a central square. While playing the video, the EPM floor image on the screen (in the perspective of the video camera) is observed through the grid, designed according to the desired number of squares. A grid designed in a transparent plastic sheet is placed on the TV or monitor that will be used for video playback. In order to perform the scoring, the user first films a session with a video camera placed above the center of the apparatus.
![assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/3-s2.0-B9780123705099000917-gr2.jpg)
The timing of these two types of events is also recorded, and the exact moment of occurrence can be retrieved and entered in spreadsheets for analysis. The X-PloRat allows the user to virtually divide the apparatus’ floor into as many squares (or rectangles) as needed to meet research purposes, and to record both (1) the displacements from one section to another and (2) the occurrence of target behaviors, (e.g., vertical exploration, head dipping, rearing, stretch-attend postures and grooming, among others) in one or more specific sections. The present technical note aims at introducing the X-PloRat for the scientific community.
#ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE DOWNLOAD#
BioTechniques, 41(6), 700-704.).Īnother non-commercial software, the X-PloRat, was developed in the laboratory of one of the present authors (SM) to assist in OF and EPM scoring, and has been distributed as freeware to fellow researchers in Brazil and abroad (X-PloRat, version 2005 1.1.0, available for download at ). Computer-assisted scoring of the elevated plus maze. There are also non-commercial softwares designed to assist in the scoring of behaviors, one of which is the EPMscore ( Patel, Seasholtz, & Patel, 2006 Patel, P. These, however, are usually expensive and often depend on specific equipment. There are commercially available softwares that allow automatic recording of behavior, some of which are connected to special apparatuses. Therefore, overcoming these hindrances would be extremely helpful.
#ASSIGNING SPECIFIC ANIMALS TO SPECIFIC APPARATUSES ANY MAZE MANUAL#
Such manual scoring requires considerable training before achieving reliable results, besides being time and energy consuming. Usually, the animal behavior is recorded with a video camera and scoring is done afterwards by watching the video and assigning categories for specific behaviors. Used by many researchers for a variety of purposes, the EPM consists of a platform with two arms surrounded by walls and two open arms intersected perpendicularly at the center resulting in a plus-shaped delimited space, which is elevated 50 cm from the floor. Ethological and temporal analyses of anxiety-like behavior: The elevated plus-maze model 20 years on. for a review, see Carobrez & Bertoglio, 2005 Carobrez, A.
![assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze assigning specific animals to specific apparatuses any-maze](https://media.springernature.com/lw785/springer-static/image/chp%3A10.1007%2F978-1-4939-2159-1_1/MediaObjects/271936_1_En_1_Fig1_HTML.gif)
The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents. The Elevated Plus-Maze Test: Differential psychopharmacology of anxiety-related behavior. Pawlak, Karrenbauer, Schneider, & Ho, 2012 Pawlak, C. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg’s Archives of Pharmacology, 327(1), 1-5. Effects of alpha-adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists in a maze-exploration model of “fear”-motivated behaviour. Two broadly used apparatuses for evaluating anxiety-like behaviors in rodents are the round or rectangular open field (OF) and the elevated plus maze (EPM Handley & Mithani, 1984 Handley, S. Behavior scoring is one of the most important procedures in studies involving enclosed animals.