Animal Tests of Anxiety
Current Protocols in PharmacologyPublished 1 December 2004
Sandra E. File, Arnold Lippa, Bernard Beer, Morgen T. Lippa
Citations82
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TL;DR
This unit presents protocols for the most commonly used animal tests of anxiety, including the Geller‐Seifter conflict test, the social interaction test, light/dark exploration, the elevated plus‐maze, defensive burying, and the thirsty rat conflict.
Abstract
Animal tests of anxiety are used to screen novel compounds for anxiolytic or anxiogenic activity, to investigate the neurobiology of anxiety, and to assess the impact of other occurrences such as exposure to predator odors or early rearing experiences. This unit presents protocols for the most commonly used animal tests of anxiety. The Geller-Seifter conflict test, the social interaction test, light/dark exploration, the elevated plus-maze, defensive burying, and the thirsty rat conflict. The protocols are described in terms of drug screening tests, but can be modified easily for other purposes.
Keywords
Neuroscience
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A novel test for the selective identification of anxiolytic and anxiogenic drug effects in the rat is described, using an elevated + -maze consisting of two open arms and two enclosed arms, which showed that behaviour on the maze was not clearly correlated either with exploratory head-dipping or spontaneous locomotor activity.
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The plus-maze appears to be a useful test with which to investigate both anxiolytic and anxiogenic agents.
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PsychopharmacologyNKP608, an NK1 receptor antagonist, has an anxiolytic action in the social interaction test in rats
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