In the present study we tried to improve the predictive validity of the marble burying test for anxiety 1 by selecting a strain of mice c57bl 6j that showed spontaneous avoidance of glass marbles and 2 by measuring locomotor activity with a videotracking system both during the marble burying test and if needed in control experiments.
Marble burying test in mice.
In the lab the mice live on a deep layer of sawdust.
The marble burying test is a useful model of both obsessive compulsive like ocd behavior and or anxiety like behavior.
A practical screening test with sensitivity to different classes of anxiolytics and antidepressants.
If a marble is placed on the surface of the sawdust the mice will naturally play with and bury the marble.
It is based on the observation that rats and mice will bury either harmful or harmless objects in their bedding.
When put in a cage with marbles mice with ocd like symptoms tend to engage in a high degree of repetitive behaviors including digging while mice with a high degree of anxiety tend to engage in a high degree of digging in.
Eur j pharmacol 2006.
While widely used there is significant controversy over the interpretation of its results.
Usually 30 minutes later at least 8 of the 10 marbles will be.
Marble burying is an animal model used in scientific research to depict anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder ocd behavior.
In the test ten marbles are placed evenly spaced on top of the sawdust looking rather like the top of a bourbon biscuit.
For the repetitive domain the t maze spontaneous alternation test and marble burying test are described.
It has been shown to be sensitive to benzodiazepines as these compounds reduce burying behaviour when.
The marble burying task can be used both as an indicator of obsessive compulsive like ocd behavior and or anxiety like behavior.
The marble burying test takes advantage of the proclivity of mice to dig in natural settings e g.
Burrows escape tunnels and in standard cage bedding and the nestlet shred test capitalizes on the fact that mice are nesting animals by nature that build nests for protection of themselves and their offspring against environmental conditions e.
When mice are placed in a novel cage a common response is to show increased digging behavior.
For the communication domain neonatal ultrasonic vocalization and olfactory habituation test toward social and non social odor are described.
Gyertyan i analysis of the marble burying response.
The marble burying test is used to record the number of marbles buried by mice placed in a novel environment.
Mice with ocd like symptoms tend to engage in a high degree of repetitive behaviors including digging.
We find this test to be sensitive enough to detect the anxiogenic effects even 10 days after a single episode of 2 h immobilization stress.
This test has some predictive value for anti depressant and or anxiolytic drugs.
Marbles serve to measure digging.
Hence we used the marble burying test to examine if acute immobilization stress leads to enhanced anxiety like behavior in c57bl 6 mice if the test is employed with a significant time delay.
