Marble Burying Anxiety

Mice which are placed individually in a cage bury glass marbles that are present in the cage.

Marble burying anxiety.

However modulation of marble burying by serotonin reuptake inhibitors prompted its link to obsessive compulsive disorder compulsive like behavior. The marble burying test is a useful model of both obsessive compulsive like ocd behavior and or anxiety like behavior. While widely used there is significant controversy over the interpretation of its results. Marble burying as an anxiety model in conclusion although marble burying was reduced by doses of diazepam and zimeldine which did not affect activity in a locomotor test we have not been able to find other evidence that marble burying models anxiety either from its behavioral characteristics or from the actions of anxiogenic agents.

Marble burying the marble burying test is a useful model of neophobia 1 anxiety 1 7 and obsessive compulsive behavior 8 11. It is based on the observation that rats and mice will bury either harmful or harmless objects in their bedding. The marble burying test is used to record the number of marbles buried by mice placed in a novel environment. When put in a cage with marbles mice with ocd like symptoms tend to engage in a high degree of repetitive behaviors including digging while mice with a high degree of anxiety tend to engage in a high degree of digging in.

The marble burying behavior test is an acute test. This test has some predictive value for anti depressant and or anxiolytic drugs. It has been shown to be sensitive to benzodiazepines as these compounds reduce burying behaviour when.