title: Measuring behavior of animal models: faults and remedies.
abstract: Widely used behavioral assays need re-evaluation and validation against their intended use. We focus here on measures of chronic anxiety in mouse models and posit that widely used assays such as the open-field test are performed at the wrong time, for inadequate durations and using inappropriate mouse strains. We propose that behavioral assays be screened for usefulness on the basis of their replicability across laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. ehud.fonio@weizmann.ac.il
authors.forename: Ehud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonio
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Golani
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Benjamini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001007:Anxiety; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D023421:Models, Animal; D010641:Phenotype; D011581:Psychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D054928:Validation Studies as Topic