The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents
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Open Access
- 1 February 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature Protocols
- Vol. 2 (2) , 322-328
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.44
Abstract
The elevated plus maze is a widely used behavioral assay for rodents and it has been validated to assess the anti-anxiety effects of pharmacological agents and steroid hormones, and to define brain regions and mechanisms underlying anxiety-related behavior. Briefly, rats or mice are placed at the junction of the four arms of the maze, facing an open arm, and entries/duration in each arm are recorded by a video-tracking system and observer simultaneously for 5 min. Other ethological parameters (i.e., rears, head dips and stretched-attend postures) can also be observed. An increase in open arm activity (duration and/or entries) reflects anti-anxiety behavior. In our laboratory, rats or mice are exposed to the plus maze on one occasion; thus, results can be obtained in 5 min per rodent.Keywords
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