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Maze Basics: Conditioned Place Preference
October 5, 2017
The conditioned place preference chamber is a paradigm widely used to explore the effects of natural and pharmacological stimuli, taking advantage of learned…
Does Estrous Cycle Affect Behavioral Testing Results in Mice?
September 25, 2017
With the recent NIH requirement to include female subjects in biomedical research, you may be wondering how this will complicate your experiments. Adding a…
The Right Night Light: Optimizing Conditions for Behavioral Testing During the Dark Phase
September 25, 2017
Imagine someone woke you up in the middle of the night and asked you to take an exam, go for a drive in a new town, or meet a group of new colleagues. How do…
The Mouse Nose Knows: Cleaning The Behavioral Testing Apparatus
September 25, 2017
A common question asked by behavioral researchers is how to clean the testing apparatus in between subjects and at the conclusion of an experiment. Maybe you…
Can Different People Administer Behavioral Tests in a Single Experiment?
September 24, 2017
Behavioral testing can be incredibly time consuming, sometimes continuing for weeks at a time without a single day off. In this circumstance, it might be…
The Link Between Food and Mood: Are Behavioral Tests Sensitive to an Animal’s diet?
September 23, 2017
From stressing the importance of breakfast before class to encouraging the right intake of vitamins, we’ve all heard about how our diet can affect our mood,…
The Influence of Animal Age in Behavioral Testing
September 23, 2017
Age has a strong influence on our behavior. Just look around the next time you are at the grocery store: a toddler is flailing on the ground in a temper…
A Guide to Testing Zebrafish Behavior
September 16, 2017
A transgenic zebrafish embryo in which GFP is conditionally expressed in radial glial cells. [Brion et al., 2012].
Social Hierarchy in Animals: Dominance Tests in Mice
September 4, 2017
Dominance hierarchies are a common feature of animal societies. Some individuals will behave more dominantly toward others, and these interactions result in a…
Modeling Myelin: Multiple Sclerosis Mouse Model
August 28, 2017
Intrinsic neuronal fibers run up and down, side to side in the human body; biochemical highways which carry information that basically give meaning to the word…
Open Field Test: A Measure of Anxiety
August 21, 2017
Hi everyone! Welcome back to another installment of Maze Basics. Today, we’re going to talk about the Open Field test. The apparatus for the open field test is…
Learned Helplessness
August 13, 2017
Learned Helplessness And Depression Depression is an important disorder to study, especially in today’s society. It is chronic, life-threatening, and affects…
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Procurement and Customization with Maze Engineers
July 11, 2023
Each research field and study is different. At Maze Engineers, we understand the complexities and unique needs of our customers and are highly experienced in…
How to Calibrate and Measure Electrical Current
June 16, 2023
For many of the automated products Maze Engineers offers, shock delivery is required. Shocks are applied using shock grids. To measure the shock current, you…
Animal Models and Apparatus of Sleep Disorders
June 16, 2023
Sleep problems affect a significant portion of the population, with over half of people in the United States reporting difficulties with sleep or excessive…
Guidelines to Rodent Enclosures and Cages
April 6, 2023
The guidelines for biomedical research involving rodents in the USA are set by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of Laboratory Animal…
Manual Versus Automated Animal Mazes
February 22, 2023
The American psychologist Dr. Watson shocked the scientific community when he postulated that “the rodents find their way in the environment with the help of a…
Maximum Volume of Oxygen (VO2) Testing in Rodents
February 8, 2023
Maximum volume of oxygen (VO2max) is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can consume during exercise. VO2max is expressed in…
Lactate Threshold Testing in Rodents
February 7, 2023
Lactate threshold testing is a measure of the intensity of exercise at which lactate begins to accumulate in the blood at a faster rate than it can be removed.…
Rodent Tagging and Identification
January 9, 2023
Animal tagging is a means to identify and distinguish all the individual animals of interest, which applies to wildlife, farm, or laboratory animals. It…
Grip Strength Tests in Rodents
January 9, 2023
The grip strength test is performed by using the grip strength apparatus. It measures the motor functions of rodents when they grasp a specially designed pull bar assembly with a peak amount of force. The peak force applied is displayed on a digital display with precision force gauges. You can either manually record values or use the included software to do so automatically.
Rodent Metabolism and Measurable Metabolic Parameters
December 13, 2022
Metabolism is the sum of chemical reactions involved in sustaining the life of organisms.[1] It constantly provides your body with the energy to perform…
Methods of Cleaning And Sterilization in the Laboratory
December 7, 2022
Microbiology, tissue culture, medical, equipment manufacturing labs, and many research labs and industries need strict sterile environments for their diverse…
What is Operant Behavior and How to Study It
December 7, 2022
Operant behavior describes a type of voluntary goal-directed actions in animals based on the repercussions of previous occurrences. It develops when animals…
