Gazard Chloé M, Douich Nacéra, Néel Eloïse, Villette Patrick, Perrin Florence E, Gerber Yannick N
MMDN, Univ. Montpellier, EPHE, INSERM, Montpellier, France.
Innovation Net, Tiranges, France.
Brain Behav. 2025 Jul;15(7):e70686. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70686.
For decades, behavioral tests have been used to evaluate functions and dysfunctions of the central nervous system. The open field test is one of the most commonly used methods to assess murine behaviors, including exploration, spontaneous motor activity, and anxiety-like behaviors. The choice of open field shape can vary across studies, either to address specific research objectives or to simplify data acquisition and analysis.
In this study, we investigated whether the shape of the open field arena influences mice's behaviors in an age- and sex-dependent manner during physiological aging. We then assessed how the shape of the open field influences male mice's behaviors in an age-dependent manner following spinal cord injury.
Across physiological aging, we observed that the shape of the open field arena influenced motor activity, anxiety, and social behavior, with some gender differences. Following spinal cord injury, arena shape affected motor activity, tactile sensitivity, and social behavior in male mice, but anxiety-like behaviors remained unaffected.
Our results highlight that the shape of the arena significantly influences mouse behavior, emphasizing the importance of careful experimental protocol design in behavioral assessments.
几十年来，行为测试一直被用于评估中枢神经系统的功能和功能障碍。旷场试验是评估小鼠行为（包括探索、自发运动活动和焦虑样行为）最常用的方法之一。旷场形状的选择在不同研究中可能会有所不同，要么是为了实现特定的研究目标，要么是为了简化数据采集和分析。
在本研究中，我们调查了旷场场地的形状是否在生理衰老过程中以年龄和性别依赖的方式影响小鼠的行为。然后，我们评估了旷场形状如何在脊髓损伤后以年龄依赖的方式影响雄性小鼠的行为。
在整个生理衰老过程中，我们观察到旷场场地的形状影响运动活动、焦虑和社交行为，存在一些性别差异。脊髓损伤后，场地形状影响雄性小鼠的运动活动、触觉敏感性和社交行为，但焦虑样行为不受影响。
我们的结果强调，场地形状显著影响小鼠行为，强调了在行为评估中精心设计实验方案的重要性。
