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Related Experiment Videos

Animal models: trait or state measure? The test-retest reliability of the elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair.

R Andreatini1, L F Bacellar

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil. andreat@bio.ufpr.br

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry
|August 25, 2000
PubMed
Summary

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Animal models for studying anxiety and depression need stable behavioral measures. This study found poor test-retest reliability for the elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair tests in mice, indicating they may not be suitable for assessing stable traits.

Area of Science:

  • Psychobiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Assessing stable behavioral traits in animal models is crucial for psychobiological research, particularly for conditions like anxiety and depression.
  • The elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair tests are commonly used to evaluate these behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair tests.
  • To determine if these behavioral measures are stable over time in drug-naive mice.

Main Methods:

  • Two groups of drug-naive mice were tested on the elevated plus-maze or behavioral despair on two separate occasions, one week apart.
  • Intraclass correlation coefficients and kappa statistics were calculated to assess reliability.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Both the elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair tests demonstrated very low intraclass correlation coefficients (0.02–0.05) and low kappa values (-0.08–0.21).
  • These findings indicate poor test-retest reliability for these behavioral measures.

Conclusions:

  • The behavioral parameters assessed by the elevated plus-maze and behavioral despair are not stable over time.
  • These measures are likely influenced by transient state characteristics rather than stable trait characteristics.
  • Consequently, these tests may not be appropriate for evaluating stable trait characteristics in animal models without intervention.