Services
To book a service, please contact Core Director Jason Schroeder for a consultation at 404-309-8133 or RBC@emory.edu.
New! Self-Service Option
Following training with RBC staff, individual lab personnel will have access to RBC space and equipment to perform behavioral experiments themselves at a reduced hourly rate.
This new service is in addition to RBC's continued full-service performance of experiments examining learning and memory, coordinated movement, reward and reinforcement, aggression, anxiety and depression.
Please contact Jason Schroeder at jpschro@emory.edu or 404-309-8133 to discuss your project.
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.
