Rodent Behavioral Assessment in the Home Cage Using the SmartCage System - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 209

a b

50

By hand
Software

Inserted
dark box

40

30

20

10

0

Vehicle Diazepam (3 mg/kg)

c d

35

100

By hand
Software

By hand
Software

30

80

25

60

20

15

40

10

20

5

0

0

Vehicle Diazepam (3 mg/kg) Vehicle Diazepam (3 mg/kg)

Fig. 7. The dark red box was inserted into the homecage for light/dark preference test ( a ). Diazepam produces anxiolytic
effects as demonstrated by the increased latency of the mouse's fi rst entry to the dark compartment ( b ), increased the
number of crossing into dark/light compartment ( c ), and more time spent in the light compartment ( d ) ( n = 8 each group,
p < 0.05 for all three parameters between vehicle and drug). There are almost identical measures of three parameters of
the light/dark preference test by human scores ( open bar ) and program automated calculation ( close bar ) .

received an injection of the anxiolytic drug diazepam (3 mg/kg,
i.p.) or vehicle, and 30 min following the injection they were placed
into the SmartCage™ with the dark box insert. Preference for the
light or dark compartment was recorded over the following 10 min.
Diazepam increased latency of the fi rst entry into the dark com-
partment, increased the number of transitions between dark/light
compartments, and the time spent in the light compartment
(Fig. 7b-d ). Three parameters consistently indicate that diazepam