Locomotor Activity and Open Field

This module of the Multi Conditioning System provides a comprehensive movement and activity analysis – the starting point of many behavioral investigations. It can be used to examine novelty-induced exploration and locomotion – reflecting unconditioned anxiety level and impulsivity -, locomotor activating or anxiogenic effects of drugs, or habituation effects during long-term exposure. Since all other behavioral assays in the Multi Conditioning System are locomotion dependent assessment of locomotor abilities is a prerequisite for advanced testing.

We provide Open Field arenas in 2 sizes with clear or red walls. Take advantage of the strictly controlled environment inside the Multi Conditioning housing to eliminate the influence of external conditions. Use the software-adjustable background noise and select dim red light or white light up to 1000 Lux to define the level of aversiveness in your Open Field experiment. Use home cages or any other Multi Conditioning arena to evaluate baseline locomotor activity. High-resolution movement data with up 2 rearing levels are analyzed by taking user-defined regions-of-interest and movement thresholds into account. More than 100 calculated parameters can be combined to customized data output and export files.

A useful add-on is the integrated event monitor that allows to protocol any behavior that cannot be detected automatically such as grooming or defacation manually. Observation of the animal is done via the integrated camera.

Combine your experiment with TTL output signals to trigger optogenetics laser generators or electrophysiology equipment. Special accessories are available for that purpose. Please contact us to discuss your specific needs.

Publications

Fürth D, Vaissière T, Tzortzi O, Xuan Y, Märtin A, Lazaridis I, Spigolon G, Fisone G, Tomer R, Deisseroth K, Carlén M, Miller CA, Rumbaugh G, Meletis K. An interactive framework for whole-brain maps at cellular resolution. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21(1): 139-49.

Palikova YA, Skobtsova LA, Zharmukhamedova TY, Palikov VA, Rudenko VB, Khokhlova N, Lobanov AV, Rzhevskii DI, Slashcheva GA, D'yachenko, Belous GI, Andreev YA, Logashina YA, Kozlov SA, Yavorskii AN, Elyakova EG, D'yachenko IA. Influence of New Promising Analgesic Compounds on Locomotor Activity of Mice. Pharmaceut Chem J 2018; 52(8): 700-3.

Paul AK, Gueven N, Dietis N. Age-dependent antinociception and behavioral inhibition by morphine. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2018; 168: 8-16.

Shen FC, Weng SW, Tsao CF, Lin HY, Chang CS, Lin CY, Lian WS, Chuang JH, Lin TK, Liou CW, Wang P. Early intervention of N-acetylcysteine better improves insulin resistance in diet-induced obesity mice. Free Radic Res 2018; 4: 1-11.

Sturman O, Germain PL, Bohacek J. Exploratory rearing: a context- and stress-sensitive behavior recorded in the open-field test. Stress 2018; 21(5): 1-10.

Locomotor Activity and Open Field

Exploration and Anxiety