A Researcher's Guide to Rodent Behavior

A Researcher's Guide to Rodent Behavior: Experimental Designs, Methods and Protocols, Volume 32 provides a comprehensive guide to all forms of behavioral processes found in mice, rats and other rodents used in behavioral and cognitive research. Sections discuss basic skills necessary for successful rodent behavior research, including experimental design, animal selection, building any necessary apparatus, ethical considerations and interpretation of results. The book provides useful guidance for researchers at all stages of their careers, including a detailed description of how to perform stereotaxic surgery on the rat or mouse brain, advice on how to non-appetitively motivate rodents, and more.

Most significantly, the book contains 35 proven, clearly defined protocols to aid readers in their research, making it one of the few books available that provides a collection of such protocols in a single publication. The cognitive, motor, sensory, affective, and species-typical protocols are profusely illustrated with full-color photographs from the author's own research, to help readers more fully understand the studies and methods discussed in the text and provide further instruction on the ideal ways to re-create research projects themselves.

• Provides comprehensive guidance for all phases of rodent-based research, from experimental design to ethics and drug-dosage calculations
• Presents a scientifically rigorous resource written in an engaging style that makes the content equally accessible to seasoned behavior researchers and those new to the field
• Contains 35 protocols for cognition, motor, sensory, affective and species-typical investigations
• Includes instructions and advice for designing and creating cost-effective apparatus used in conducting experiments