Untitled Document Behavioral Testing Procedures in Mice Mice are rapidly becoming the animal of choice for scientists who investigate sensory processing because selective breeding and molecular biological techniques can create animals with very specific physiological manipulations. The Shuttle Box Paradigm Click on the schematic to view a brief movie of the shuttle box task.
Mice are extremely active animals with natural tendencies to explore their environment.
The shuttle box paradigm exploits these behaviors as a research tool for measuring hearing sensitivity. A mouse performs the behavioral task by jumping through a barrier that partitions the shuttle box into two compartments. The mouse enters the left compartment and listens for the tone. After a variable waiting period, a tone burst is presented and the mouse crosses to the right compartment to activate a mechanical dipper that delivers a water reward. If the mouse crosses the barrier before the tone, or waits too long to cross, water is not delivered and the testing sequence is interrupted by a time out interval.