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Updated: May 4, 2026
Use of the Open Field Maze to Measure Locomotor and Anxiety-like Behavior in Mice
Published on: February 6, 2015
Assessing anxiety in C57BL/6J mice: a pharmacological characterization of the open-field and light/dark tests
Luis Heredia1, Margarita Torrente1, María T Colomina1
1CRAMC (Research Center for Behavior Assessment), Department of Psychology, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43201 Reus, Spain.
Introduction:
In order to assess anxiety in mammals various tests and species are currently available. These current assays measure changes in anxiety-like behaviors. The open-field and the light/dark are anxiety tests based on the spontaneous behavior of the animals, with C57BL/6J mice being a frequently used strain in behavioral studies. However, the suitability of this strain as a choice in anxiety studies has been questioned. In this study, we performed two pharmacological characterizations of this strain in both the open-field and the light/dark tests.
Methods:
We examined the changes in the anxiety-like behaviors of C57BL/6J mice exposed to chlordiazepoxide (CDP), an anxiolytic drug, at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg, picrotoxine (PTX), an anxiogenic drug, at doses of 0.5 and 1 mg/kg, and methylphenidate (MPH), a psychomotor stimulant drug, at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg, in a first experiment. In a second experiment, we tested CDP at 2.5 mg/kg, PTX at 2 mg/kg and MPH at 2.5 mg/kg.
Results:
Results showed an absence of anxiolytic-like effects of CDP in open-field and light/dark tests. Light/dark test was more sensitive to the anxiogenic effects of PTX than the open-field test. Finally, a clear anxiogenic effect of MPH was observed in the two tests.
Discussion:
Although C57BL/6J mice could not be a sensitive model to study anxiolytic effects in pharmacological or behavioral interventions, it might be a suitable model to test anxiogenic effects. Further studies are necessary to corroborate these results.
