SwiftRESEARCH · Research services
Novel object recognition (NOR) test scoring
Exploration of the familiar and the novel object, the discrimination index and the exclusions your protocol sets, scored from video. Bring recordings you already have, or plan the capture with us.
- Species
- Mice and rats
- View
- An overhead camera with the whole arena and both objects in frame
What we measure
The endpoints, defined with you before scoring
Exploration of each object
Time spent exploring the familiar and the novel object in each phase, by the definition in your protocol.
Discrimination index
Novel minus familiar exploration over the total, (novel − familiar) ÷ (novel + familiar), or the recognition index your lab reports.
Total exploration and exclusions
Total exploration per animal and phase, and the animals below your minimum, listed rather than dropped quietly.
Approaches and latency
How often each object is approached, and how long until the first approach.
Distance moved
Locomotion in each phase, so a change in recognition can be read apart from a change in activity.
Object location and other variants
The object-location version (NOL) and multi-trial designs, by your protocol.
Two ways to start
Footage you have, or a capture we plan with you
Analyze footage you already have
Send authorized recordings and your study design. We score a sample first and tell you what can be measured, then the full set.
Capture with us
We plan the recording with you on a supported camera setup, your team runs the test under your approved protocol, and we take it from the footage to reviewed results.
How it is scored: Scored from video against the definitions agreed with you, and reviewed by a person before results reach you.
What you receive
Results you can check, and what we need from you
You receive
- A table per animal and phase: exploration of each object, the discrimination index, total exploration, approaches, latency and distance.
- Group summaries, with the statistics agreed in your scope.
- Scored examples on your own video, so you can check the scoring against what you see.
- The exploration definition and exclusion rules used, so the scoring can be repeated.
We need
- Video of the familiarization (sample) and test phases, with the whole arena and both objects in frame.
- Which object is novel in each test, and where each object stood.
- The phase lengths, the retention interval and your exploration definition.
- Animal IDs and groups, coded if you want scoring blind to group.
The test
Where it comes from
The test rests on rodents spending more time exploring a new object than one they have met before: Ennaceur and Delacour described it in rats in 1988. Leger and colleagues (2013) give a standard mouse protocol, with a minimum exploration time in each session as the selection criterion.
- Ennaceur A, Delacour J (1988). A new one-trial test for neurobiological studies of memory in rats. 1: Behavioral data. Behavioural Brain Research 31:47–59. doi:10.1016/0166-4328(88)90157-x
- Leger M, Quiedeville A, Bouet V, et al. (2013). Object recognition test in mice. Nature Protocols 8:2531–2537. doi:10.1038/nprot.2013.155
Questions
Can you score NOR videos we already recorded?
Yes, when the whole arena and both objects are in view. We score a sample first and tell you what can be measured before the full set.
What counts as exploring an object?
The definition in your protocol. A common one: the nose pointed at the object within about 2 cm of it; sitting on or climbing the object does not count. It is agreed in writing before scoring starts.
Do you run the animals?
Your team, or the facility you work with, runs the study under your approved protocol. We help plan the recording, then score and analyze it.
How is it priced?
Each project gets a written scope and quote: inputs, deliverables, how results are reviewed and the price. Academic labs get a discount, shown in the quote.
More assays
Other assays we score
Behavioral satiety sequence (BSS)
Eating, grooming, activity and resting after a meal, bin by bin.
Kaolin pica (rats)
Kaolin and food intake per animal and period, as a nausea-like measure.
Home-cage activity and sleep-like rest
24-hour activity, light and dark phases, and sleep-like rest bouts.
Social interaction and three-chamber tests
Three-chamber sociability and social novelty, and free interaction.
Open field test
Distance moved, time in the center, thigmotaxis and rearing.
We also scope the elevated plus maze, Y-maze, fear conditioning (freezing), nest building and marble burying, and other tests: describe yours.
Tell us about your study
The endpoint, your species, and whether you already have footage or need help capturing it.