Open Field Test
Objective: Assessment of spontaneous locomotor activity and exploratory behavior in light and dark phases across multiple time points in zQ175 knock-in mice
This is a Open Field Test protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 5 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 1 materials. Extracted from a 2012 paper published in PLoS ONE.
Model and subjects
mouse • C57BL/6J • both male and female • 4-58 weeks (multiple timepoints: 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 58 weeks) • 9-12 per sex per genotype in primary test cohort
Study window
~2.1 week study window
Core workflow
Animal identification and genotyping • RFID chip implantation • CAG repeat genotyping
Primary readouts
- Spontaneous locomotor activity
- Exploratory behavior
- Activity patterns in light phase
- Activity patterns in dark phase
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.
Use the page like this
- Work through the protocol steps in order and use the inline vendor chips only when you need to source or verify an item.
- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
Start here. The step list is optimized for running the experiment, with direct vendor links available inline when you need to source a cited item.
Animal identification and genotyping
Mice were ear notched at 10-15 days of age for identification purposes
View evidence from paper
“Animals were ear notched at around 10–15 days”
RFID chip implantation
Mice were implanted with RFID electronic chips for tracking purposes
View evidence from paper
“Mice were weaned and implanted with RFID electronic chips (DataMars, OH) for identification at around 21 days”
CAG repeat genotyping
Genotyping and CAG repeat count were determined by Laragen Inc. from PCR of tail snips
View evidence from paper
“Genotyping and CAG repeat count were determined by Laragen Inc. (Culver City, CA), from PCR of tail snips taken at 10–15 days of age”
Open field test - light phase
Assessment of spontaneous locomotor activity and exploratory behavior during light phase
View evidence from paper
“Open field in the light phase ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓”
Open field test - dark phase
Assessment of spontaneous locomotor activity and exploratory behavior during dark phase
View evidence from paper
“Open field in the dark phase ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓”