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Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Mechanical Conflict-Avoidance Assay to Measure Pain Behavior in Mice
Published on: February 18, 2022
Using high-speed videography for objective and reproducible pain measurement on a mouse pain scale
Justin Burdge1, Nathan T Fried2, Ishmail Abdus-Saboor1
1University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abstract:
Mouse models are essential for studying pain neurobiology and testing pain therapeutics. The reliance on assays that only measure the presence, absence, or frequency of a reflex have limited the reliability of preclinical pain studies. Our high-speed videography protocol overcomes this by projecting the discrete sub-second kinematic behavioral features induced by hind paw stimulation onto a "mouse pain scale." This provides a more objective and robust pain measurement in mice by quantifying the quality of the stimulus-induced hind paw reflex. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Abdus-Saboor et al. (2019).

