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Mood and Emotion





Various behavioral methods explore emotion and mood within rodent models. Evaluation of emotional state and related therapeutics is routinely conducted through testing of behavioral conflict (elevated plus maze, Vogel test), motivation (forced swim, tail suspension), associative memory (fear extinction), and anhedonia (sucrose-preference). Studies may also involve stress exposure, such as immobilization or inescapable shock, as a model development tool for disorders such as PTSD.



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Common Applications

  • Anxiety
  • Major Depression
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Bipolar/Mania
  • Brain Injury
  • Stroke/Ischemia
  • Dementias
  • Addictions






Combined Approaches

Complex brain-body interactions are engaged during episodes of stress, anxiety, and fear. Combination of behavioral assessments with DSI telemetry can measure how psychological states translate to changes in cardiovascular activity and body temperature in real-time. Such measurements not only provide view into the physiology of emotion but offer additional dimensions for model validation.

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Recent References

Open Field/Actimeters (Anxiety, Locomotor Activity)
1. Gudasheva TA, Tallerova AV, Mezhlumyan AG. et al. Low-Molecular Weight BDNF Mimetic, Dimeric Dipeptide GSB-106, Reverses Depressive Symptoms in Mouse Chronic Social Defeat Stress. Biomolecules. 2021 Feb 10;11(2):252.
2. Mecum NE, Demers D, Sullivan CE. et al. Lacrimal gland excision in male and female mice causes ocular pain and anxiety-like behaviors. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):17225.
3. Luo CW, Deng XY, Cheng JL. et al. Altered anxiety and social behaviors in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. J Clin Neurosci. 2020 Mar;73:245-251.

Dark-Light Box (Anxiety)
4. Muntsant A, Jiménez-Altayó F, Puertas-Umbert L. et al. Sex-Dependent End-of-Life Mental and Vascular Scenarios for Compensatory Mechanisms in Mice with Normal and AD-Neurodegenerative Aging. Biomedicines. 2021 Jan 24;9(2):111.

Elevated Plus and Zero Maze (Anxiety)
5. Smith MA, Choudhury AI, Glegola JA, et al. Extrahypothalamic GABAergic nociceptin-expressing neurons regulate AgRP neuron activity to control feeding behavior. J Clin Invest. 2020;130(1):126-142.

Forced Swim (Anti-Depressant Screening)
6. Lee N, Oh SJ, Park JW, Nam KR, Kang KJ, Lee KC, Lee YJ, Choi JS, Seok JH, Choi JY. Evaluation of the Effects of Developmental Trauma on Neurotransmitter Systems Using Functional Molecular Imaging. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Mar 3;22(5):2522.

Vogel Test (Conflict/Anxiety)
7. Dodonova, S.A., Bobyntsev, I.I., Belykh, A.E. et al. Effects of Peptides ACTH6–9 PGP and ACTH4–7-PGP on Anxiety Levels in Rats in Punished and Unpunished Behavior. Neurosci Behav Physi 2020; 50, 1203–1208.

Fear Conditioning (Fear/Associative Learning)
8. Zhang B, Wang L, Zhan A, et al. Long-term exposure to a hypomagnetic field attenuates adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):1174.
9. Davis SM, Zuke JT, Berchulski MR, Burman MA. Amygdalar Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Signaling Is Required for Later-Life Behavioral Dysfunction Following Neonatal Pain. Front Physiol. 2021;12:660792.
10. Zhang Y, Wang Z, Ju J, Liao J, Zhou Q. Elevated activity in the dorsal dentate gyrus reduces expression of fear memory after fear extinction training. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2021;46(3):E390-E401.