Rodent Behavior Core

About the West Virginia University Health Sciences Rodent Behavior Core:

To facilitate the conduct of functional assessments in experimental animals at WVU, in 2014, we established the Rodent Behavior Core (RBC). Conveniently housed in the OLAR vivarium, RBC equipment are freely available in a suite of dedicated rodent behavior testing rooms that have been optimized for task-specific needs. RBC staff maintain apparatus for the evaluation of several functional domains including alcohol consumption, affective behavior, depressive-like behavior, drug abuse potential, learning and memory, locomotion, pain sensitivity, sensorimotor function/skilled movement, and social investigation. In addition to housing behavioral equipment, the RBC offers other services that facilitate behavioral research, including expert consolation on experimental design and task selection, individualized training in behavioral methods, assistance in grant or manuscript writing, and statistical analysis of behavior data. Use of the RBC and associated services is free of charge*. It is our hope that the RBC will help support basic, translational, and collaborative research to enhance understanding of neurological and other disorders, and to elucidate possible therapeutic interventions.
*See "Services and Fee Structure" for more information.