SwiftRESEARCH · Research services
Open field test analysis
Locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior in the open field: distance moved, time in the center and near the walls, and rearing, 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 in frame
What we measure
The endpoints, defined with you before scoring
Locomotor activity
Distance moved, speed and time moving, in total and in time bins to show habituation.
Center and walls
Time and distance in the center zone, entries and the latency to enter it, against time near the walls (thigmotaxis).
Rearing
Rearing counts and time spent rearing.
Immobility and grooming
Time still, and grooming bouts, where your protocol includes them.
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: distance, speed, center and wall measures, rearing and immobility, in total and per time bin.
- Track plots per animal, and group summaries with the statistics agreed in your scope.
- Scored examples on your own video, and the zone and behavior definitions used.
We need
- Video of each session with the whole arena in frame and steady lighting.
- The arena size, so distances come out in centimeters, and the center zone you use.
- The session length, and animal IDs and groups, coded if you want scoring blind to group.
The test
Where it comes from
The open field measures general locomotion and anxiety-like behavior: rodents tend to keep to the walls of a new arena. Prut and Belzung (2003) review which drug classes do and do not change behavior in it; Seibenhener and Wooten (2015) give a step-by-step mouse protocol.
- Prut L, Belzung C (2003). The open field as a paradigm to measure the effects of drugs on anxiety-like behaviors: a review. European Journal of Pharmacology 463:3–33. doi:10.1016/s0014-2999(03)01272-x
- Seibenhener ML, Wooten MC (2015). Use of the Open Field Maze to measure locomotor and anxiety-like behavior in mice. Journal of Visualized Experiments 96:e52434. doi:10.3791/52434
Questions
Can you score open field videos we already recorded?
Yes, when the whole arena is in view and the lighting is steady. We score a sample first and tell you what can be measured.
Can you check scores we already have?
Yes. An audit of existing scores against the video is a stage we run on its own.
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
Novel object recognition (NOR)
Exploration of each object and the discrimination index, phase by phase.
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.
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.