Welcome
The Rodent Behavioral Core (RBC), one of the Emory Integrated Core Facilities (EICF), is supported by the Emory University School of Medicine and the Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance. We plan, execute, and analyze behavioral experiments examining activity, arousal, coordinated movement, learning and memory, anxiety, depression, seizure susceptibility, reward/reinforcement, and aggression in mice and rats.
News
- In collaboration with the Warren lab in the Department of Human Genetics, the RBC has recently added Social Investigation and Nest Buildings assays as available services.
- Through generous support from the Emory University School of Medicine the RBC has purchased a Clever Sys tracking for use in HSRB. This highly flexible piece of equipment allows us to precisely monitor rodent in a variety of tasks including the Morris Water Maze, the Elevated Plus Maze, and Novel Object Recognition.
Service Highlights
Morris Water Maze
The Morris Water Maze is the most commonly used paradigm to evaluate learning and memory in rodents. Subjects are trained over many days to find the fixed location of a submerged and invisible platform. Because subjects cannot see the platform they need to utilize cues in maze environment to locate the escape platform. The latency and swim path distance required to locate the platform are recorded via tracking software during training. Once training is complete a probe trial is administered during which the escape platform is removed. The percentage of time spent in the quadrant where the platform had been located is then measured as an assay of memory recall.
Rotarod
The rotarod measures motor coordination. Subjects are placed on a rotating cylinder and must walk continuously to keep from falling off. After a series of practice trials at a low speed, test sessions are given during which the speed accelerates throughout the test. The latency to fall off of the rotarod and highest rpm attained are the primary dependent variables in this task.
Connect
The Rodent Behavioral Core (RBC) is one of the Emory Integated Core Facilities (EICF). We use PPMS to provide access to our services and track your projects. Please click here if you need an account established for your use.
PPMS - Access Services
Please click here to submit your project.
Questions?
Please email us at RBC@Emory.edu