Subjects are placed in the center of an eight-arm radial maze.
Four randomly chosen arms are baited with food pellets in opaque
containers. The subject is given the opportunity to visit all the arms
and collect all the available food pellets. After a rentention delay,
the subject is returned to the maze. In win-stay conditions, the same
four arms are baited, and the number of correct choices the subject
makes in collecting the pellets is recorded. In win-shift conditions,
the four arms NOT baited in the earlier trial are now baited, and the
number of correct arm choices is recorded. Each day, a new set of four
arms is chosen randomly.
The subject is placed in the activity chamber for a specified
time period. Activity levels and movement in three dimensions are
recorded by the activity system and can be analyzed for evidence of
hyperactiviy, hypoactivity, anxiety, explorative behaviors, and
stereotyped rotation.
The animal is placed in the center of the apparatus and observed
for a set time. Measurements compare the include total time spent in
the open and closed arms (and central platform) as well as entries into
the open and closed arms.
6. 黑白箱實驗(light dark box)
The subject is placed in the dark portion of
the box for a set period of acclimation time. At the end of this
period, a door separating the two compartments is opened. The amount of
time that the subject takes to emerge fully from the enclosed area into
the open area is measured.
7. 社交行為實驗(social interaction)
The subject is habituated to the test chamber and allowed to
freely explore for a set time. A novel animal is placed in one of the
two enclosures, and the percentage of time the mouse spends in the
section with the novel animal is compared to the time spent in the
section with the empty enclosure. In a later session, the time spent
with the same animal might be compared to time spent with a newer, more
novel animal.
A drug is injected and the subject is introduced to distinctive
environment A. This procedure is repeated for several trials. During
these conditioning trials the animal develops an association between
the subjective state produced by the drug (often drugs that produce mood
elevation or euphoria in humans) and the contextual cues present while
the drug is active. To test the conditioning, the animal is placed in
an apparatus with drug-related cues in one compartment and neutral cues
in the other. nbsp; If conditioning occurred, the animal will move
toward the compartment containing the drug-related cues.
In a Conditioned Place Preference experiment, subjects are returned
to an apparatus were they can freely move between a compartment in
which they were conditioned with drug-related cues, and a compartment
with neutral cues. If the conditioning was successful for positive,
reinforcing drug states, they should spend more time in the compartment
with drug-related cues。
In a Conditioned Place Aversion experiment, subjects are returned
to an apparatus were they can freely move between a compartment in which
they were conditioned with an aversive stimulus, such as a shock; and a
compartment with neutral cues. If the aversive conditioning was
successful, they should spend more time in the compartment with neutral
cues.