Behavior Monitoring in Rodents

In behavioral science, any researcher willing to monitor a rodent's behavior with precision must rely on automatic measuring tools that can assess, in any given environment, rodents' locomotor activity and any other physical functions.

There is a long list of behaviors usually observed in rodents. Among them are the following: assessment of locomotor activity, anxiety-related behavior, hearing, habituation, motor coordination, balance, spatial learning, pain tolerance, memory skills, fear levels, aggression, or indications of behavioral despair.

The tracking of rodents involves the use of specific tests: novel object recognition open field test, rotarod, acoustic startle, morris water task, tail-flick test, cued fear conditioning, elevated plus maze test, forced swim test, passive avoidance test, etc to highlight behavioral impairments occurring in specific neurological disorders.