Activity Accessories

The Dark Box Insert is opaque to visible light and designed to cover 1/2 the area of the Open Field Activity Chamber.  It is used to provide an area in the Open Field Activity chamber that is dark and an area that is lit.  There is an opening into the Dark Box that allows the subject to pass freely but is sufficiently small to minimize the amount of light that enters the darkened area.  A small adjustable light can be placed above the open side of the chamber.  The MED Associates Activity Software can parse the data of a session into zones and determine the amount of time that a subject spent in both areas as well as the number of entries into each.  Patterns of exploration can be examined by viewing the subject's plot. The Dark Box insert is available for the standard mouse (ENV-510) and rat (ENV-515) chambers.

The two-compartment Light/Dark Test, one of the classic indices of anxiety, can now be fully automated and performed while examining other components of locomotor activity.  The time spent in the lit area and the associated exploratory behaviors are reliable parameters for assessing anxiolytic-like activity and may be useful for identifying anxiolytic and anxiogenic agents.

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Two Chamber Place Preference is used for conditioned place preference paradigms. Like the Dark Box listed above, the Two Chamber Place Preference Insert is simply a box that slides into the Open Field chamber. This insert covers the entire area of the chamber. The two sides of the box have been designed to provide distinct tactile environments to maximize contextual differences. One side of the box has a wire mesh floor while the other side has a grid rod floor. Since the walls are clear, different color and design patterns may be added between the wall of the insert and the wall of the test chamber as long as they do not block the photobeams. It is also possible to order a black lid in place of  the standard clear lid for one or both sides.  The lid is hinged to allow easy subject insertion and removal. A manual guillotine door can be inserted to block the arched doorway during conditioning that would normally allow the subject to pass freely between the two sides during testing. The Open Field Activity software can parse the session data into zones to determine the number of entries into each chamber and the amount of time that a subject spends in each area.. There is also a breakdown of all other activity data, such as distanced traveled, rearing counts, time resting, time stereotypic, etc. for both  zones. Order ENV-517 to fit the (ENV-515) Test Environment and ENV-512 to fit the (ENV-510)  Test environment.

This device is not intended to replace the three compartment Place Preference protocol. For information on devices suitable for that task click here.

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ENV-515HBM
Hole Board Mouse for ENV-515 Chamber

This variation on the ENV-515HB will allow running mice in the larger ENV-515 environment. Again, 16 holes have been placed in 3" centers; however, the diameter of each hole is just 0.625". Like the ENV-510HB, the stand off height is ½". This insert may be used with the standard X-Y array strips or the ENV-258HB Hole Board I/R Array, which connects in place of the rearing sensors.

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ENV-258-HB
Infrared Source and Detector Strips for ENV-515HB Hole Board

Add these strips only if it is necessary to collect ambulatory data while running the hole board task.

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ENV-510HB
Hole Board Floor for ENV-510

The Hole Board Task Floor Insert is similar in construction to the ENV-515HB described above and consists of a bottom tray, screen and top tray, which are positioned underneath the Hole Board Floor. Sixteen 0.875" diameter holes are placed on 1.875" centers. A ½" standoff separates the tray from the top panel. Again, the standard X-Y ambulatory beams may be lowered to detect hole entry in the task floor or an extra set of beams, ENV-256HB, may be purchased, which plug into the rearing circuit.

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ENV-256-HB
Infrared Source and Detector Strips for ENV-510HB Hole Board

Add these strips only if it is necessary to collect ambulatory data while running the hole board task.

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Data Review and Analysis

All data can be readily exported to a database format (MS Access). Subject, date, or any other parameter may be used as a sort, thus enabling the researcher to easily import the data into a spreadsheet from the database.

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