Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Behav Genet. 2013 Jan;43(1):34-50. doi: 10.1007/s10519-012-9572-8. Epub 2013 Jan 4.
We examined measures of locomotor and anxiety-like behavior in male and female mice of 15 inbred strains on the elevated-plus maze, light/dark transition box and open field. Strain differences were found on all measures of locomotor activity and anxiety. Strain means for measures of locomotor activity on the three apparatus were significantly correlated, but strain means for commonly used measures of anxiety were not correlated. Principal component analysis revealed a common locomotor activity factor, which accounted for 28.6 % of the variance, but no common anxiety factor. Species-typical behaviors (defecations, stretch-attend postures, grooming) accounted for smaller proportions (<11 %) of the variance. These results plus comparisons with previously published data suggest that the elevated-plus maze, light/dark box and open field measure different facets of anxiety, and that the reliability of genetic differences on anxiety is highly dependent on apparatus, procedural variables and laboratory factors. Locomotor activity, however, is a stable trait that differs across strains and is reliably measured in different apparatus and laboratories. We conclude that anxiety traits of inbred mouse strains are best reflected by species-typical behaviors in each apparatus. These results suggest that new ways of measuring trait anxiety are required in order to determine the neural and genetic correlates of anxiety-like behaviour in mice.
我们在高架十字迷宫、明暗箱和旷场实验中检测了 15 种近交系雄性和雌性小鼠的运动和焦虑样行为指标。在所有运动和焦虑行为的测量指标上，不同品系间均存在差异。三种仪器上的运动行为测量指标的品系平均值显著相关，但常用焦虑测量指标的品系平均值则不相关。主成分分析揭示了一个共同的运动活性因子，占总方差的 28.6%，但没有共同的焦虑因子。种属典型行为（粪便、伸展姿势、梳理毛发）占的方差比例较小（<11%）。这些结果加上与以前发表的数据的比较表明，高架十字迷宫、明暗箱和旷场实验测量了不同的焦虑方面，而焦虑的遗传差异的可靠性高度依赖于仪器、程序变量和实验室因素。然而，运动活性是一种稳定的特征，不同的品系之间存在差异，并且在不同的仪器和实验室中都可以可靠地测量。我们得出的结论是，近交系小鼠的焦虑特征最好通过每种仪器中的种属典型行为来反映。这些结果表明，需要新的方法来测量特质焦虑，以便确定焦虑样行为在小鼠中的神经和遗传相关性。
