The reliability of the hole-board apparatus

File, Sandra E.; Wardill, Ann G.

doi:10.1007/bf00421183

Cited by 197 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In some studies, exposure to a novel environment immediately before testing in the elevated plus maze increases motor activity in the elevated plus maze and a greater likelihood of entering the open arms of the maze 1,25,26 . Although indices of anxiety behavior in the elevated plus maze do not correlate with the amount of exploration in a hole-board 27 , using the hole-board task immediately before elevated plus maze testing can provide additional indices of activity and exploration (i.e., rearing and head dipping) 25,26 , which are independent of plus maze exposure, to rule out changes in open arm exploration being due to changes in general activity and/or exploratory motivation. For instance, this method has been successfully used to demonstrate anxioselectivity of the long-lasting impact of experimental epilepsy on rodents and the impact of predator stress exposure (both experimental situations that can alter activity) on plus maze anxiety 28,29 .…”

Section: Predictive Validity Of the Elevated Plus Mazementioning

confidence: 99%

The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents

2007

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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 stretchedattend 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. INTRODUCTIONThe elevated plus maze has been described as a simple method for assessing anxiety responses of rodents by File and co-workers 1 . A task, using a Y-shaped apparatus that included an elevated open alley, which produced a strong approach-avoidance conflict, and an enclosed alley, which did not, was first described by Montgomery 2 . This task was modified into an elevated maze with four arms (two open and two enclosed) that are arranged to form a plus shape and was described by Handley and Mithani 3 . These authors described the assessment of anxiety behavior of rodents by using the ratio of time spent on the open arms to the time spent on the closed arms. Unlike other behavioral assays used to assess anxiety responses that rely upon the presentation of noxious stimuli (i.e., electric shock, food/water deprivation, loud noises, exposure to predator odor, etc.) that typically produce a conditioned response, the elevated plus maze relies upon rodents' proclivity toward dark, enclosed spaces (approach) and an unconditioned fear of heights/open spaces (avoidance) 4 .There is great diversity in possible applications of the elevated plus maze. To name a few, prescreening of newly developed pharmacological agents for treatment of anxiety-related disorders can be carried out. The anxiolytic and anxiogenic effects of pharmacological agents, drugs of abuse and hormones can be investigated. The effects of reproductive senescence/aging and/or pre-, peri-or postnatal exposure to various stressors can be assessed. Furthermore, beyond its utility as a model to detect anxiolytic effects of benzodiazepine-related compounds, the elevated plus maze can be used as a behavioral assay to study the brain sites (e.g., limbic regions, hippocampus, amygdala, dorsal raphe nucleus, etc. 5,6 ) and mechanisms (e.g., GABA, glutamate, serotonin, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis neuromodulators, etc. 1,3,[7][8][9][10][11][12] ) underlying anxiety behavior. Indeed, the elevated plus maze has been used as a model of state, unconditioned anxiety for over two decades, and there are now over 2,000 papers related to this topic. Because a lengthy discussion of these key findings is beyond the scope of this protocol, readers are referred to several excellent an...

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Section: Predictive Validity Of the Elevated Plus Mazementioning

confidence: 99%

The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents

2007

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“…In the open field test (OFT), anxious animals remain along the edges of the enclosure 37 , whereas in the light-dark box, anxiety-related behavior is measured as a propensity to remain in the darkened portion of the chamber 38 . Other less commonly used ethological tests include the staircase task 39 , in which anxious mice tend to rear more and climb fewer steps, the elevated alley 40 , in which mice must traverse a partially illuminated rod, and the hole board 41 , in which animals can forage in holes along the floor of the otherwise exposed apparatus.…”

Section: Measuring Anxiety-related Behaviors In Rodentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety

2015

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Although anxiety disorders represent a major societal problem demanding new therapeutic targets, these efforts have languished in the absence of a mechanistic understanding of this subjective emotional state. While it is impossible to know with absolute certainty the subjective experience of a rodent, rodent models hold promise in dissecting wellconserved limbic circuits. The application of modern approaches in neuroscience has already begun to unmask the neural circuit intricacies underlying anxiety by allowing direct examination of hypotheses drawn from existing psychological concepts. This information points toward an updated conceptual model for what neural circuit perturbations could give rise to pathological anxiety, and thereby provides a roadmap for future therapeutic development.3

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“…Rears were defined as any instance where the mouse raised itself up on its hind legs, with its forepaws leaving the ground (with the exception of grooming behaviors). Head dips and rears in the hole-board were taken as measures of rodent exploration and activity, respectively (File & Wardill, 1975a;1975b). Mice were considered in the center when all four paws were within the center area defined by white masking tape, and near the wall when all four feet were within the 4 em area between the masking tape and the wall.…”

Section: Modified Hole-boardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glucocorticoids are required for extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal

Clay

Hebert

Gill

et al. 2011

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

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Extinction of fearful behavior induced by severe stress was studied using predator stress. Predator stress involves a ten minute unprotected exposure of a rodent to a cat which induces long-lasting changes in anxiety-like behaviours and hyperarousal (increased acoustic startle response) (Adamec & Shallow, 1993; Adamec et al., 200 I;Cohen et al., 2004). In the present set of experiments, three questions were addressed using predator stressed mice. First, can predator stress-induced fear memories be extinguished? Second, is the extinction of predator stress-induced fear memories glucocorticoid-dependent? Finally, is re-exposure to the predator stress context necessary to see glucocorticoid's effects on predator stress-induced fear memories?Extinction was induced by re-exposing mice to the predator stress room in the absence of the cat. This repeated re-exposure to predator stress context increased activity in the predator stress context implying extinction of predator stress-induced immobility, a context-dependent fear memory. Repeated re-exposures to the predator stress context also decreased subsequent hyperarousal (acoustic startle response) and generalized anxiety-like behaviour. These fearful behaviors were predator stress context independent, having been tested in environments different from the cat exposure room. Furthermore, blocking glucocorticoid synthesis with metyrapone during repeated exposures to the predator stress context had no effect on activity. Therefore, reducing corticosterone levels did not affect extinction of the predator stress-induced, context-dependent fear memory.However, metyrapone given during repeated exposures to the predator stress context prevented extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal. These results suggest that extinction of predator stress-induced, context-independent fear memory is dependent on Ill the presence of endogenous corticosterone during the extinction trial . Finally, reexposure to the predator stress context was found to be necessary to see glucocorticoid's effects on predator stress-induced fear memories. This was determined by repeated injection of metyrapone over days without re-exposure to the predator stre s context.

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The reliability of the hole-board apparatus

Cited by 197 publications

References 9 publications

The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents

The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents

Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety

Glucocorticoids are required for extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal

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