La prueba de la placa caliente (Hot Plate test) se utiliza comúnmente para evaluar la sensibilidad al dolor térmico.

El propósito de esta tarea es evaluar la función de miembros corporales o grupos musculares en roedores. 

El paradigma de evitación pasiva se usa tradicionalmente como una manera rápida y fácil de explorar la memoria a corto y a largo plazo.

En el paradigma de evitación activa los sujetos aprenden a evitar un estímulo aversivo mediante una respuesta locomotriz..

METABOLISM software is the last element of the chain of components of the Panlab OXYLET,FOOD and DRINK and PHYSIOCAGE systems. METABOLISM allows the extraction of the data obtained from these Panlab devices as well as the calculation of important parameters for physiological studies. A combined evaluation of the respiration metabolism, food/drink intake, spontaneous activity and rearing is then rendered possible by the use of this very simple and easy-to-use software.

METABOLISM consists in different modules, activated upon customer request:

• METAOXY -> for O2/CO2 metabolism studies (Including Treadmill based studies).
• METAINT -> for Intake studies
• METAACT -> for activity studies (Including Rearing)

The program gets data in digital form from the Panlab devices. METABOLISM can also import and convert analogical data from the *.txt files generated by Data Acquisition Systems (PowerLab® recommended). 

Gathered data can be processed and re-processed using different time intervals of calculation. The program displays a Data Table which can be saved in Excel format for further analyses.

Compulse represents the software component of the Panlab PheCOMP system designed for the assessment of compulsive behavior in rodents.

This software monitors up to 12 PheCOMP cages for data acquisition, storage and analysis. Up to 4 external units for food or drink by cage can be set (user-defined combination and name) ensuring an optimal flexibility for performing a wide variety of tests related to Food & Drink Intake studies.

The evolution of food and drink intake consumption, beams break activity, rearing and current animal position are displayed in real-time during the data acquisition process. The data are stored in two data files: MTB file opened from the Compulse software for Intake & Meal Pattern Analysis and TAC file opened from the Actitrack software for Global Activity, Tracking & Rearing Analysis.

A powerful analysis module provides tables with the calculation of total and accumulated intake for each dispenser in each cage as well as all the standard data for meal pattern analysis. The analysis window and subinterval are defined by the user. Data can also be displayed graphically. All the tables and graphs are easily exportable in Excel o BMP formats, respectively.

The Panlab spatial place preference box is an experimental chamber developed with the aim to optimise place preference and aversion studies in small laboratory animals, especially mice. The design of the box is fruit of a close collaboration with eminent Professor Dr. Rafael Maldonado and Dr. Olga Valverde from the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology in Barcelona (Spain). 

The apparatus consists in a box with two equally sized compartments interconnected by a rectangular corridor. Originally, the compartments are differentiated by the motifs painted on the walls (dots or stripes) and the colour (different shade of grey tones, light or dark) and texture (smooth or rough) of the floor. The innovation brought by the Panlab box is the possibility to combine a new additional spatial dimension to allow the animal differentiate the different compartments in a more discriminative manner. Transparent walls are also used to minimize the time the animal spent in the corridor. 

The introduction of these new discriminative elements allows:

• optimising the results obtained in the place preference and aversion paradigms (low variability in the response, reduced number of animals per group...)
• organizing the discriminative elements in a wide variety of configurations for studies evaluating spatial or contextual memory
• using the elements as discriminative cues associated with drug exposure in diverse other experimental designs.

The Panlab spatial place preference box can be associated with the weight transducer technology (and PPC win software) or video-tracking system (SMART software) for detection and analysis of animal position throughout the test.

Panlab Place Preference Box is a standard experimental chamber for automated assessment of conditioned place preference and aversion in rodents, two tests widely used for screening the reinforcing properties of drugs (or natural stimuli) as well as for investigating the brain neurobiological systems implicated in reward and addiction.

The experimental box consists of two Perspex compartments of the same size interconnected by a central grey corridor. The compartments can be differentiated by both visual and tactile cues: the colour of the walls in each compartment (white or black) and the texture of the floors (smooth or rough). The box is provided with transparent frontal walls which may be covered with extractable opaque covers (included). Manually operated sliding doors are provided to manage the access to the two compartments from the corridor. 

The experimental box can be supplied with or without automatic animal position detection system. The automated animal position detection can be carried out by a weight transducer system which is associated to the PC-based control software PPCWIN or by the SMART video-tracking system.

Panlab also proposes another place preference box - spatial place preference box (see related products) - with optimised design for compartment differentiation without the possible bias introduced by the black and white colour of the compartment of the present box. 

PPCWIN is an easy-to-use and complete software for monitoring Conditioned Place Preference (or aversion) tests and Black and White experiments (for anxiety). It has been specially designed to work with the Panlab Automated Place Preference and Black and White boxes equipped with weight transducers for the automatic detection of animal position.

PPCWIN controls independently up to 8 experimental chambers. The system includes a test mode enabling immediate and reliable checking of the communication between the software and the experimental chambers.

The Place Preference and Black and White boxes are basically divided in two different compartments connected by a grey corridor/door, respectively. One experiment can be composed of several sessions, depending on the number of experimental groups and animals per group used in the study. PPCWIN is easy to configure as the user only needs to enter the desired duration of experiment and some specific information about the session (subject name, group…). During data acquisition, information about protocol state, animal position and current data can be visualized for each cage on the corresponding control window.

PPCWIN provides a raw data table with all the standard parameters for conditioned place preference and black and white experiments (permanence time in the compartments, number of entries…) and a detailed chronological sequence of animal displacements for each session. A report table can be generated containing the results from different stored session. Data from the tables of result can be easily exported in formats widely used to perform complementary analysis.

Panlab restrainers for rodents are manufactured from Perspex cylinders mounted on a flat black Perspex base. All the models have free access through both extremes, by opening the respective tilting door that is fixed by a screw at the upper part of the restrainer.

Animals can be immobilised by sliding the doors along the restrainer. A slot in the base of the door allows for the whole tail to be available for the pulse transducer and cuff installation, the i.v. drug administration or the blood extraction.

Specially designed restrainers for startle reflex experiments are built on an opened base for allowing free animal contact with the grid and then providing shocks. Additional screws are available for a strong fixation of the restrainer on the grid avoiding any displacement due to the animal movements during the experiment. 

The easy operation of the doors and its disposition on the extremes of the restrainer makes the manipulation of the animal convenient and avoids the animal to be dragged backwards, protecting it from injuries in the feet.

Available in 6 different sizes, the restrainers cover all the range of rat & mice.