Thermal Place Preference- 2 Temperatures Choice Nociception Test

Presentation

Overview of the Temperature Choice Test System

Bioseb’s Thermal Place Preference Test, or 2 Temperatures Choice Nociception Test, is an operator independant test to study pain thresholds in rodents (mouse and rat) by assessing temperature preference (comfort zone) - a brand new tool opening new fields of investigation for your analgesia/nociception research.

As advised by A. MOQRICH, and published in Moqrich et al (Science 2005, 307: 1468-72), the Thermal Place Preference Test allows researchers to work on unrestrained animals (mice and rats) let free to choose their preferred position (comfort zone) between 2 compartments set at different temperatures. This behavioural assay will allow monitoring temperature preferences, nociceptive thresholds and state in the role of a given gene or a compound on these pain thresholds associated to cold and hot stimulation.

Unlike the cold/hot plate test, it is investigator-independent: using the traditional plates, an operator can measure the reaction time of an animal (mouse or rat) exposed to a certain temperature. The 'two Temperatures Choice Test' will return a nociceptive response without any action from the operator, and the obtained value is a temperature or a temperature range indicating the sensitivity of the animal (mouse or rat) resulting to the exposure to different stimulations (cold or heat).

You have the possibility to either observe one rat at a time or two mice simultaneously and independently, making the Thermal Place Preference system remarkably attractive for your analgesia research.

Operating principle

This test is easy to setup:

Using the optional automatic detection software: the operator defines the temperature of each zone. Once the temperatures are stabilized, animals are placed and the acquisition can be launched. The operator doesn't have to be present any more during the nociceptive experiment.

If not using the automatic detection software, temperatures have to be defined manually, and the operator has to measure the time himself.

During the thermal analgesia experience, the operator can visualize the position and movements of each animal on the screen. Raw data acquisition files are stored in a proprietary format to match GLP norms, while a .txt version of the file can be used for further analysis in MS Excel.