Category: Blog

In 1932, the American psychologist Calvin S. Hall developed the open field test (OFT) for assessing the emotionality of animals.1 Since then, the OFT has undergone various modifications in step with modern technology, and its ability to evaluate the effects of drugs on animal behavior has had a significant impact in the fields of neuroscience and psychopharmacology.2 This article delves into the role of the locomotor activity test, a variation of the OFT, and explores its utility in understanding spatial perception and related neurological phenomena. It will discuss how studies have used locomotor activity technology and San Diego Instruments’ contribution in expanding the boundaries of scientific understanding. Continue reading “Using Locomotor Zone Maps to Understand Spatial Perception”

The Morris Water Maze is a simple yet highly effective method for evaluating cognitive function, central to neurodegenerative disease research. Defects in spatial learning and memory caused by neurodegenerative diseases can be accurately assessed using the Morris Water Maze model, providing all-important insights into the processes underlying the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and the evaluation of the effectiveness of treatments. Continue reading “Gaining Insights into Neurodegenerative Disease Using the Morris Water Maze”

The Morris water maze (MWM) is a widely used tool in neuroscience research for studying spatial learning and memory in rodents. However, optimizing MWM experiments requires a nuanced understanding of the protocol, the specific mouse strain, and the testing environment. This article provides a detailed guide on how to optimize your MWM experiments for the most accurate and reliable results. Continue reading “Optimizing Morris Water Maze Experiments: Tips and Tricks for Researchers”

Animals are used in scientific research to help us gain a deeper understanding of specific diseases, illnesses, and treatments and the physical and psychological impacts they have. Researchers frequently use rodents because they are biologically similar to humans and often get the same diseases we do, thus offering a way to study how humans develop, age, and interact with diseases. 

Continue reading “How to Record Rotation Activity for Unrestrained Mice”

Assessing drugs and their effects is a critical part of drug discovery research. It helps researchers understand the mechanisms behind specific drugs and contributes to developing safe and effective treatments for a wide range of health conditions and diseases. Analyses of drug temporal profiles can be challenging but are frequently conducted in drug discovery to monitor the relationship between the drug ingested and any adverse reactions or abnormal laboratory test results.1 For rodent test subjects, one of the most suitable methods of assessing these profiles is with conditioned place preference (CPP) systems. In this blog post, we look at how this works and the benefits it brings to drug discovery research. Continue reading “Assessing Drug Temporal Profiles With Conditioned Place Preference Systems”

Tremors are involuntary and rhythmic movements that can happen in the hands, legs, head, or voice. They can occur in the body for several reasons, including excess caffeine, stress, or as a result of an underlying neurological condition such as Parkinson’s disease. Monitoring tremors in small animals, especially mice and rats, has long been conducted, as it helps researchers gain a deeper understanding of how tremors start and what potential treatments could be developed. In this blog post, we will examine the importance of tremor monitoring and what can be learned from it. Continue reading “What Can We Learn From Tremor Monitoring in Mice?”

Avoidance learning can be described as a component of an organism’s survival instinct, as they develop a response to avoid a harmful or unpleasant stimulus before it occurs. Once the organism has experienced an unpleasant stimulus, it can begin to recognize when it is about to happen and escape the situation or determine which behaviors can prevent the unwanted impact. For example, if a human notices a specific setting is too loud, they may wear earplugs before entering or avoid the place altogether. In mice, if a shock follows a specific noise, eventually, they will learn to escape as soon as they hear the noise.  Continue reading “Active & Passive Avoidance Learning in Mice: What’s the Difference?”

The acoustic startle response is an unconditional reflex that involves quick movements of facial and skeletal muscles in response to sudden, startling stimuli such as light or noise. In mice, monitoring acoustic startle response is crucial to understanding more about the central nervous system (CNS) and includes classical conditioning, fear, habituation, and sensorimotor gating. To quantify this response, researchers use a startle chamber to trigger a stimulus and monitor the mouse’s anxiety, fear, and stress levels. In this blog post, we examine how acoustic startle response in mice is quantified and why this is important. Continue reading “How Is Acoustic Startle Response In Mice Quantified?”

The startle response is a sudden, reflex-like response to something unexpected or sudden, such as a bright light or loud noise. It is an unlearned and mainly unconscious defense mechanism that animals and humans have, occurring when a stimulus startles someone or something. Startle response is a series of skeletomuscular contractions commonly measured by eyeblinks in humans and full or partial muscle contractions in rodents, displayed through head, neck, back, paw, or tail movements, but it can also be viewed in the face as a look of fear1. In a startle response, the facial and skeletal muscles react within a few milliseconds. Continue reading “What is Startle Response Habituation?”

Circadian rhythms are the biological clocks in humans and other organisms that run on a 24-hour period, which are reset by the sun’s light/dark cycle. They control many behavioral and physiological processes in our bodies and are strongly influenced by environmental factors such as light, noise, nutrition, sleep, temperature, and social cues. These environmental factors are fed into a complicated system of molecular feedback loops, which impact the circadian rhythm. Continue reading “Circadian Rhythms & Photobeam Activity Systems: How Environment Impacts Biological Clocks”