This test has some predictive value for anti depressant and or anxiolytic drugs.
Marble burying anxiety.
When put in a cage with marbles mice with ocd like symptoms tend to engage in a high degree of repetitive behaviors including digging while mice with a high degree of anxiety tend to engage in a high degree of digging in.
Marble burying as an anxiety model in conclusion although marble burying was reduced by doses of diazepam and zimeldine which did not affect activity in a locomotor test we have not been able to find other evidence that marble burying models anxiety either from its behavioral characteristics or from the actions of anxiogenic agents.
While widely used there is significant controversy over the interpretation of its results.
Marble burying the marble burying test is a useful model of neophobia 1 anxiety 1 7 and obsessive compulsive behavior 8 11.
However modulation of marble burying by serotonin reuptake inhibitors prompted its link to obsessive compulsive disorder compulsive like behavior.
Mice which are placed individually in a cage bury glass marbles that are present in the cage.
However some investigators incorporate the sub acute treatment regimen as an essential component for screening anti compulsive agents.
It has been shown to be sensitive to benzodiazepines as these compounds reduce burying behaviour when.
The marble burying behavior test is an acute test.
Marble burying is an animal model used in scientific research to depict anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder ocd behavior.
It has also been proposed that the test may have predictive validity for the screening of novel antidepressants 12 15 anxiolytics 15 16 and antipsychotics 17 19.