The plus-maze, the light–dark box and the open-field are the main current tests of
unconditioned anxiety for mice and rats. Despite their disappointing achievements, they …

Many mammals spontaneously rear on their hind legs in response to novelty. The current
paper is the first review of rearing behaviour, and is intended to collate findings from different …

Most people who are regular consumers of psychoactive drugs are not drug addicts, nor will
they ever become addicts. In neurobiological theories, non-addictive drug consumption is …

Stress, especially chronic stress, is one of the most important factors responsible for
precipitation of affective disorders in humans. The animal models commonly used in the …

Ghrelin is a peptide found in the hypothalamus and stomach that stimulates food intake and
whose circulating concentrations are affected by nutritional state. Very little is known about …

Habituation to a novel environment in rodents is commonly defined as a change in
exploratory or locomotor activity over time (intrasession) or with repeated exposures …

The drug efflux pump P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) plays an important role in the function of the
blood–brain barrier by selectively extruding certain endogenous and exogenous molecules …

Rats can emit ultrasonic 50-kHz vocalizations which are generally assumed to reflect the
animals' positive emotional state. However, some aspects question the reliability of 50-kHz …

Our previous work has shown that male Sprague–Dawley rats reared in social isolation,
standard housing and environmental enrichment differ in their spontaneous open-field …

Measurement of anxiety is desirable for the benefit of drug development and understanding
the brain function and mental well-being. Animal models offer the advantages of detailed …