Mouse Behavioral Testing: How to Use Mice in Behavioral Neuroscience

Description

This book presents the essentials of behavioral test methodology needed for effective study planning and high quality behavioral data collection on laboratory mice. The broad scope of behavioral testing in relation to the neurosciences is discussed, as are the fine details of various test situations. Mistakes made in past research are scrutinized and lessons are drawn about how to avoid them in future work. Diverse factors that can influence the results of behavioral experiments are discussed, ranging from the specific parameters employed in a test to the laboratory environment outside the test situation itself. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on special issues that arise when testing genetically different mice, including inbred strains and mice with targeted mutations. This knowledge will assist an investigator who lacks formal training in behavioral psychology to build a behavioral testing lab and insure that its output meets current standards of good practice in behavioral neuroscience research. The book will be a convenient manual of procedures for daily use in studies of mouse behavior. It will be of interest even to experienced behavioural researchers, but of particular value to scientists just beginning work with mice, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral investigators who want to collect phenotypic data with knockout and other genetically defined mice. Constructed from materials used in a long running course on Advanced Animal Behavior at University of North Carolina-Greensboro, the book is an ideal text for a course on behavioral testing. * A guide to running a behavioral testing lab, including the many aspects of mouse research beyond the confines of the specific test. * Diagrams and photographs are shown for many kinds of apparatus and test situations with sufficient details such as dimensions to enable building of replicas * Provides step-by-step instructions on planning and executing behavioral experiments in order to run them successfully * A companion website will provide: access to statistical utilities in Excel and test protocols; examples of real documents used for published studies; video clips of the mice behaviors resulting from various tests