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Brain and Behavior Animal Lab 4

Meeting location: SCA 007 (animal care facility) - bring lab coat!

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Activities

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1. Investigate the behavioral effects of hippocampal lesions.

Each rat (unoperated, sham, lesioned) will be tested on the elevated plus maze (5 minutes) and the inhibitory avoidance box. For the plus maze, time how long the rat spends in the open and the closed arms. For the avoidance box, put the rat in the striped side and time how long it takes him to cross (use a 5-min time limit). 

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What do you expect to see?  What did you see?  What if anything can we conclude?  We will discuss these and other issues.              

2. Test the effect of effect of diet on acute stress responses in mice     

Each mouse be subjected to a forced swim test to induce an acute, moderate stress response. This test has been used in behavioral neuroscience for over 40 decades. Each mouse will be placed in a bucket of room temperature water and forced to swim for 120 seconds, after which they will be removed and placed in a temporary holding cage. During their swim, they will be closely observed to ensure their safety. Three minutes after the swim, their blood glucose (BG) will be measured and the healthy diet vs unhealthy diet mice will be compared.

 

What do you expect to see?  What did you see?  What if anything can we conclude?  We will discuss these and other issues.              

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