Source Paper
The use of the elevated plus maze as an assay of anxiety-related behavior in rodents
Nature Protocols • 2007
Elevated Plus Maze
Objective: Assess anxiety-related behavior in rodents by measuring entries and duration in open versus closed arms of an elevated plus maze, and recording ethological parameters
This is a Elevated Plus Maze protocol using rats or mice as the model organism. The procedure involves 2 procedural steps, 2 equipment items. Extracted from a 2007 paper published in Nature Protocols.
Model and subjects
rats or mice
Study window
~5 minutes hands-on
Core workflow
Place rodent at maze junction • Record behavioral data
Primary readouts
- Entries into open arms
- Duration in open arms
- Entries into closed arms
- Duration in closed arms
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
Confirm first
- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
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- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
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Place rodent at maze junction
Place rat or mouse at the junction of the four arms of the elevated plus maze, with the animal facing an open arm
Note: Initial positioning is critical for standardization
View evidence from paper
“rats or mice are placed at the junction of the four arms of the maze, facing an open arm”
Record behavioral data
Record entries and duration in each arm using video-tracking system and observer simultaneously. Also observe and record ethological parameters including rears, head dips, and stretched-attend postures
Note: Both automated video tracking and manual observation are used concurrently
View evidence from paper
“entries/duration in each arm are recorded by a video-tracking system and observer simultaneously for 5 min. Other ethological parameters (i.e., rears, head dips and stretched-attend postures) can also be observed”