Behaviour, Conditioning, Reward


NEW Fear Conditioning System - ANYmaze Featured

Fear Conditioning systems are designed to run Pavlovian conditioning experiments on mice or rats. Single-frequency sounds are delivered as neutral or conditioned stimulus (CS). Experimental procedures which contemplate the sound as CS are usually referred to as Cued Fear Conditioning. Electric current from the grid floor is delivered as the naturally aversive, or unconditioned stimulus (US).

Features / Specifications

AUTOMATIC detection of FREEZING also in total darkness
Specific versions for rats or mice
Select the most suitable cage: two sizes, available with optional features, such as specific versions for tethered animals, etc.




Applications:

Fear Conditioning is a quick and reliable method to assess memory in rodents.
When rodents are exposed to fearful stimuli, they respond, among the others, with immobility behavior, also called “freezing”. All different Fear Conditioning procedures imply the measurement of the freezing response (i.e. the fraction of time spent immobile).
A rodent can learn to fear a previous neutral stimulus if that has been associated with an instinctively aversive one (such as an electric shock), or, in other terms, after having been conditioned.
After the conditioning has occurred, and the two stimuli have become associated, the animal is presented the neutral stimulus and, as a consequence, it will freeze. Freezing is commonly defined as complete immobility, apart from respiratory movements.
The time spent freezing is indicative of undergone memory and learning processes, which are at the basis of the association between neutral and aversive stimuli.
Fear Conditioning is a sensitive and quick test, which requires very little training (usually only one trial) to the animals. It is therefore a valuable tool for basic behavior research, as well as for high throughput and drug discovery studies. Moreover, the conditioning established during the Fear Conditioning procedure can be very strong (i.e. long-lasting), allowing for long term experiments.


Passive Avoidance - Step through - New Model, for Rats and Mice

Passive Avoidance Test is used to assess memory function based on the association formed between a specific environmental context, which the animal learns to avoid, and an aversive stimulus, represented by a mild foot shock. 

Features / Specifications


Part of the BEEHIVE SYSTEM
Tilt-floor detection mechanism
No stepping motor!
Remote Control feature
Great Versatility

Applications


Behavioral scientists are well acquainted with passive avoidance methods that have been used for several decades, originally by psychologists, who were interested in animal behavior.
These procedures were later exploited by neuroscientists, who specifically perform sys-tematic studies of the behavioral changes mainly produced by brain lesions, to define the functions of different C.N.S. sections.
The Passive Avoidance was soon extended to several other areas of research such as behavior genetics, psychopharmacology and behavioral toxicology. More recently, such use has become routine in animal model studies of aging and of Alzheimer-type demen-tia, including the search for new drugs of potential therapeutic value, consisting of atten-uation of behavioral deficits.
The Passive Avoidance task is a one trial fear-motivated avoidance task, classically used to assess short-term or long-term memory on small laboratory animals (rodents).


Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) Cages for Rats or Mice

Ugo Basile Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) cage is a 2-compartment box to evaluate the abuse potential of substances and the motivational effects of drugs in mice or rats.


Features / Specifications


Interchangeable patterned floors and walls
Walls in either compartment can be altered, by replacing the context kit
High contrast with light or dark animals
Specific models and floors for rats or mice


Application


The CPP paradigm provides information on the rewarding or aversive effects of visible and tactile contextual cues associated with drugs. 
This technique has acquired great popularity in research studies involving addiction, being much easier, if compared to drug self-administration procedures. 
First, the animal is conditioned to identify one of the two compartments with the drug experience. Then the time spent in each compartments is measured; preference or aversion to the drug-paired compartment, hence rewarding/aversive properties of drugs, can be easily deducted.
The CPP test only requires the animal to carry out a simple operation (i.e. move from one compartment to the other) to approach or avoid the drug-paired compartment; the animal is expected to spend more time in the drug-paired compartment, if the drug experience produced a positive effect.

Lickometer (Vogel Test) set-up for Drinking-Conflict experiments

Lickometer - Vogel Test is a versatile system that can function as a simple software-based lickometer or run Drinking-Conflict experiments and assess the anxiolytic effect of drugs.

Features / Specifications


Multi-Chamber System
User friendly proprietary software included
2-Pole Sine-Wave Shocker
Versatile protocol management

Application


The Vogel Conflict Test is a conflict based experimental method primarily used in pharmacology. It is used to determine anxiolytic properties of drugs. The Vogel Test predicts drugs that can manage generalized anxiety disorders and acute anxiety states.

Suppressing behaviour through punishment is commonly used to determine the anxiolytic properties of drugs. During the Vogetl Test, animals are receive electrical shocks when trying to get either water. Therefore the number of times the animal goes to get water decreases. When anxiolytic drugs are injected, the number of times animals go up to get water increases, even though the animal are still punished.


Active Avoidance Set-Up (Shuttle-Box) for Rats and Mice

Active Avoidance Set-Up has been designed to enable the researcher to perform a wide range of avoidance experiments, each according to a flexible schedule.


Features / Specifications


Part of the BEEHIVE SYSTEM
Maximum Flexibility
Tilting-floor detection
Remote Control feature
Great Versatility


Application


Behavioral scientists are well acquainted with avoidance methods that have been used for several decades, originally by psychologists, who were interested in animal behavior.
These procedures were later exploited by neuroscientists, who specifically perform sys-tematic studies of the behavioral changes mainly produced by brain lesions, to define the functions of different C.N.S. sections.
Avoidance tests were soon extended to several other areas of research such as behavior genetics, psychopharmacology and behavioral toxicology. More recently, such use has become routine in animal model studies of aging and of Alzheimer-type dementia, including the search for new drugs of potential therapeutic value, consisting of attenuation of behavioral deficits.