Robust and reliable: Measuring anxiety in the Elevated plus maze
Screening of anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze becomes more reliable with Ethovision XT combined with the standardization of testing parameters and common practices.
Direct observations help develop effective interventions in adolescence
Presenting a study in which family and friendship dynamics in adolescence were observed in order to develop more personalized interventions that prevent problem behaviors and adjustment issues.
Is a unique calcium regulating mechanism a cause of Gulf War Illness?
Gulf War Illness (GWI) is potentially caused by organophosphate exposure. Through behavioral experiments, using a DFP rat model, researchers tested levetiracetam as a potential cure.
Serious gaming reduces anxiety in children
What is the effectiveness of the applied game called MindLight in teaching children how to cope with anxiety? Wols et al. investigated this game-based intervention.
How to characterize complete behavioral phenotypes in a behavioral analysis faci
Introducing the Behavioral Analysis Facility. Researchers evaluate the behavioral and functional activities of new pharmacological drugs using diverse functional tests. Learn more about their recent projects.
Helping children cope with social anxiety
Researchers Colonnesi et al. investigated whether social anxiety in 4 year-olds is related to the level of Theory of Mind, and expressing shyness.
Zebrafish provide key insights into alcohol addiction
Why is it that when people drink, only small subsets of individuals develop an alcohol addiction? Steven Tran from the Gerlai Lab tells us why zebrafish are very helpful in the search for the answer to this question.
Mice in the spotlight: why you should perform your tests in a home cage
Mouse models are essential for neuroscience research. Many tests are susceptible to bias. Home cage testing provides a number of solutions.
Revealing the secret social role of the CA2 hippocampus
Aggressive behavior is adaptive for most species. But how is this aggressive behavior mediated in the brain? A recent study indicates that the hippocampus is a crucial neural component in mediating social recognition.
A new method to evaluate if dogs are suitable for IED bomb detection
Margaret Gruen and her colleagues recently investigated a new method to assess sound induced fear and anxiety in candidate IED-detection dogs – specifically, Labrador retrievers.