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. 2017 Sep 5;7(17):e2534.
doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2534.

Predator Odor-induced Freezing Test for Mice

Shintaro Otsuka  1
Affiliations

Predator Odor-induced Freezing Test for Mice

Shintaro Otsuka. Bio Protoc. .

Abstract

The innate fear response is an emotional response that does not require any previously acquired conditioning. One of the standard methods to analyze the innate fear response is a 2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT)-induced freezing test. TMT is an odor originally isolated from anal secretion of the red fox. Acute TMT exposure has been shown to induce robust freezing behavior in rats and mice (Wallace and Rosen, 2000; Galliot et al., 2012 ). Here, I show how to expose mice to TMT and how to analyze their freezing behavior.

Keywords: Fear; Freezing; Innate; Odor; Predator; TMT.

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Figures

Video 1.
Video 1.. An example of mice handling in the fume hood
Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Equipment for a TMT-induced freezing test.
A. Disposable circular test chamber and lid; B. The placement of equipment. The chamber is placed at the center of the walled area and illuminated at 500 lux in my equipment.
Video 2.
Video 2.. An example of TMT-induced freezing.
The mouse showed freezing behavior after the administration of TMT.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Representative result of wild-type mice in a TMT-induced freezing test.
Each dot represents the percentage of average freezing duration of six female wild-types (C57BL/6J from Charles River Laboratories, 14 weeks old). Error bars show SEM. The mice were exposed to TMT for 5 min after the start of acclimation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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