Stretched-attend posture

Fig. 3 Behavior of high (HAB) andlow(LAB) anxiety rats (see Sect. 2.1.2) after treatment with either vehicle or diazepam (1 mg/kg). While avoidance behavior towards an unprotected area remains unaffected, the number of stretched-attend postures is significantly reduced, indicating a high sensitivity of risk assessmentbehavior for anxiety-modulating drug effects. The lack of effects on locomotor activity shows that treatment with this relatively low dose of diazepam was not sedative...

After the initial contact with the bare wires and the subsequent shock, record the behavior of the animal for 10-15 min. Behavioral measures of activity may include prod-directed burying, burying latency, height of pile at prod base, prod contacts (number, duration), prod contact latency, and stretch-attend postures directed at the prod (6) (.tee Note 12). 

In every testing session, record the number of stretch-attend postures, stretch approaches, freezes, and number of times the mouse retreats to the home chamber. Also, measure the amount of time spent in the home chamber and observation box, as well as time in contact with the wire mesh. 

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