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The regular and light–dark Suok tests of anxiety and sensorimotor integration: utility for behavioral characterization in laboratory rodents

Nature Protocols volume 3, pages 129–136 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Animal behavioral models are crucial for neurobiological research, allowing for the thorough investigation of brain pathogenesis to be performed. In both animals and humans, anxiety has long been linked to vestibular disorders. However, although there are many tests of anxiety and vestibular deficits, there are few protocols that address the interplay between these two domains. The Suok test and its light–dark modification presented here appear to be suitable for testing this pathogenetic link in laboratory rodents. This protocol adds a new dimension to previously used tests by assessing animal anxiety and balancing simultaneously, resulting in efficient, high-throughput screens for testing psychotropic drugs, phenotyping genetically modified animals, and modeling clusters of human disorders related to stress/anxiety and balancing.

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Figure 1: The mouse Suok test.
Figure 2: The rat Suok test.
Figure 3: Selected examples of pharmacogenic behavioral responses that may be evoked in the rodent Suok tests by various psychotropic drugs.

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Acknowledgements

The preparation of this protocol was supported in part by the Medical Research Foundation of Tampere University Hospital (Finland), the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH/NIMH, USA), and NARSAD (USA) YI Award (to A.V.K.). The authors thank Marianne Kuuslahti and Newlin Morgan for their excellent technical help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Medical School, University of Tampere, Tampere, 33014, Finland

    Allan V Kalueff, Tiina Keisala, Anna Minasyan & Pentti Tuohimaa

  2. Laboratory of Clinical Science, National Institute of Mental Health, NIMH/NIH, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Allan V Kalueff, Justin L LaPorte & Dennis L Murphy

  3. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Medicine, St. Mathew's University, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

    Senthil R Kumar

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  1. Allan V Kalueff
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Correspondence to Allan V Kalueff.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Video 1

Rich spectrum of exploratory and motor behaviors that can be registered in the rodent Suok test. (MP4 8191 kb)

Supplementary Video 2

Effects of psychotropic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on mouse Suok test behavior. (MP4 8747 kb)

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Kalueff, A., Keisala, T., Minasyan, A. et al. The regular and light–dark Suok tests of anxiety and sensorimotor integration: utility for behavioral characterization in laboratory rodents. Nat Protoc 3, 129–136 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2007.516

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