Open Field

The open field test is  used to test behavior and general activity of mice and  Rats. The open field consists of a   board (1.20 m × 1.20 m) surrounded by Gray plastic walls (50 cm in height). The rats were placed in   it for 30 min. The movements were monitored. Considered were the ration between distance traveled (m), and the time the animals did not move  , local movements    and the average velocity of movement  . The usually used variables of the ration of the time spent in the central and peripheral part of the arena in order to assess the motivation to voluntarily explore unsafe areas were not considered because there was minimal variability between animals, thus they do not provide information about individuality and unnecessarily increases the number of variables in the PCA. In order to provide information about the readiness to enter unsafe areas the number of entries in open arms of the elevated plus maze test has been considered.

procedure

1. 1 .Bring the mice in their home cages from their housing room into the testing room. Allow the mice to acclimate to the procedure room for a minimum of 30 min prior to starting the test.
2. 2 . Remove a single mouse from the home cage by grasping its tail and place the mouse in the middle of the open field .3 .Allow free and uninterrupted movement of the subject mouse throughout the respective quadrant of the maze for a single 10 min period during which time.
3. 4 .At the end of the test period, pick up the subject mouse gently and return it to its home cage.
4. Some Important Questions
5. Q.What does the open field test show?
6. Ans.The open-field test is used to provide a qualitative and quantitative measurement of exploratory and locomotor activity in rodents. The apparatus consists of an arena surrounded by high walls, to prevent escape, and the floor of the open field is divided into squares.
7. Q.What causes anxiety in mice?
8. Ans.Several factors have been found to influence baseline levels of hyponeophagia in mice, including the genetic background of inbred strains, long durations of isolate housing, and specific genetic mutations that affect anxiety-related behaviors.

Q. Are mice nervous?
Ans.“Mice are very anxious,” It takes them an hour or so to calm down before they’re ready for work.