| First Author | Lamberty Y | Year | 1998 |
| Journal | Physiol Behav | Volume | 64 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 703-5 |
| PubMed ID | 9817584 | Mgi Jnum | J:50703 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1309601 | Doi | 10.1016/s0031-9384(98)00124-3 |
| Citation | Lamberty Y (1998) The mirror chamber test for testing anxiolytics: is there a mirror-induced stimulation?. Physiol Behav 64(5):703-5 |
| abstractText | A new murine model of anxiety, namely the mirror chamber test, is based on the assumption that, like many species, mice show approach-avoidance behavior when they are confronted by a mirror. It has been suggested that the mirror chamber is a specific and a quantitatively/qualitatively different measure of anxiety than that implicated in other behavioral models such as the elevated plus-maze and the head-dipping assays. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there was indeed a specific mirror effect by replacing the mirrors in the chamber by either white or dark-gray tiles. Balb/c, DBA-derived, and C57 BL/6j mice were tested under these three experimental conditions. The results indicated that Balb/c and DBA-derived mice avoided the mirror, white and gray chambers similarly while C57 BL/6j mice entered more readily and spent more time in the gray chamber than in the mirrored or white chambers. Thus, depending on the strain of mouse studied, a brightness or a position effect in the chamber could explain the avoidance behavior observed. These results suggest that there is no need to invoke a specific mirror effect. |
