Eilam David
Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Israel.
Behav Brain Res. 2003 Jun 16;142(1-2):53-62. doi: 10.1016/s0166-4328(02)00382-0.
Individual voles were tested on successive days under increasing, decreasing, or randomly changing arena size. Locomotor behavior was adjusted to arena size by (i) preserving the same level of activity, (ii) taking longer but less frequent trips in smaller arenas in contrast to taking more frequent yet shorter trips in the larger arenas, and (iii) moving in the entire space available for exploration in the smaller arenas in contrast to remaining along the walls of the open field in the larger arenas. The effect of testing order was minimal, probably being related to increased novelty under increasing arena size, as opposed to habituation under decreasing arena size, when parts of the same area were re-explored. These behavioral changes averaged up to a two-fold difference compared with the larger six-fold change in the perimeter and 44-fold change in the area of the open field. The modest change in open-field behavior indicates that it has a solid spatio-temporal structure that withstands extensive environmental changes. This behavioral stability and consistency further validates studies of pharmacological, neurological, and genetic preparations that use behavior in a small open field as representation of the general pattern of behavior.
在连续的几天里，对个体田鼠进行测试，测试时场地大小逐渐增加、逐渐减小或随机变化。田鼠的运动行为会根据场地大小进行调整：（i）保持相同的活动水平；（ii）与在较大场地中更频繁但路程较短的出行相比，在较小场地中出行时间更长但频率更低；（iii）在较小场地中，田鼠会在整个可供探索的空间内活动，而在较大场地中，田鼠则会沿着开阔场地的边缘活动。测试顺序的影响很小，这可能与场地增大时新奇感增加有关，而在场地减小时，由于会重新探索同一区域的部分地方，新奇感会降低。与开阔场地周长6倍的变化和面积44倍的变化相比，这些行为变化平均只有两倍的差异。开阔场地行为的适度变化表明，它具有稳固的时空结构，能够承受广泛的环境变化。这种行为的稳定性和一致性进一步验证了药理学、神经学和遗传学研究，这些研究将小型开阔场地中的行为作为一般行为模式的代表。
