Bourin Michel, Hascoët Martine
Faculty of Medicine, EA 3256 Neurobiologie de l'Anxiété et de la Dépression, Faculté de Médecine BP 53508, 44035 Nantes Cedex 1, France.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2003 Feb 28;463(1-3):55-65. doi: 10.1016/s0014-2999(03)01274-3.
The light/dark test is based on the innate aversion of rodents to brightly illuminated areas and on the spontaneous exploratory behaviour of rodents in response to mild stressors, that is, novel environment and light. The test apparatus consists of a small dark safe compartment (one third) and a large illuminated aversive compartment (two thirds). The test was developed with male mice. The strain, weight and age may be crucial factors. The extent to which an anxiolytic compound can facilitate exploratory activity depends on the baseline level in the control group. Differences between the type and severity of external stressors might account for the variable results reported by different laboratories. The light/dark test may be useful to predict anxiolytic-like or anxiogenic-like activity in mice. Transitions have been reported to be an index of activity-exploration because of habituation over time, and the time spent in each compartment to be a reflection of aversion. Classic anxiolytics (benzodiazepines) as well as the newer anxiolytic-like compounds (e.g. serotonergic drugs or drugs acting on neuropeptide receptors) can be detected using this paradigm. It has the advantages of being quick and easy to use, without requiring the prior training of animals.
明暗箱试验基于啮齿动物对明亮照明区域的先天厌恶以及它们对轻度应激源（即新环境和光线）的自发探索行为。试验装置由一个小的黑暗安全隔室（三分之一）和一个大的照明厌恶隔室（三分之二）组成。该试验是针对雄性小鼠开发的。品系、体重和年龄可能是关键因素。抗焦虑化合物促进探索活动的程度取决于对照组的基线水平。外部应激源的类型和严重程度的差异可能是不同实验室报告结果不一致的原因。明暗箱试验可能有助于预测小鼠的抗焦虑样或致焦虑样活性。据报道，由于随着时间的推移产生的习惯化，穿梭次数是活动探索的一个指标，而在每个隔室中停留的时间反映了厌恶程度。使用这种范式可以检测经典抗焦虑药（苯二氮䓬类）以及新型抗焦虑样化合物（如血清素能药物或作用于神经肽受体的药物）。它具有快速且易于使用的优点，无需对动物进行预先训练。
