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Animal
Mouse, Rat

Fear Conditioning System

Product Code:46000

The Ugo Basile Fear Conditioning system is composed of:

  • Isolation cubicle, including all electronics, fan, IR/VIS lights, camera (up to 16 cubicles can be connected to 1 PC)
  • The animal cage is available in different dimensions for rats and mice, plus the observational learning version to allow two animals to see each other. The standard cage has a circular opening, but also a vertical door is available
  • Video-tracking system is required in only 1 license, no matter how many cages you have
  • Electronic shock meter is an optional to measure the current on the grid floor
  • Extended warranty is an additional option

Please see the Ordering information below to choose the components that fits your experiment

Fear conditioning is one of the most common methods to measure memory in rodents. It exploits the Pavlovian association between an unpleasant unconditioned stimulus (shock) to a conditioned neutral stimulus (sound cue). The reaction of rodents, as predated animals, is to freeze (stay immobile) when exposed to fearful situations, such as a shock.

Once the association has happened and the animal has memorized it, freezing will happen also when the sound is presented without shock. This is the principle of Fear Conditioning, which is also coupled to the change of the visual/tactile context (appearance) to ensure that the animal is reacting to the association to the sound and not to the environment (cued and contextual fear conditioning)

Model
Choose a model to get a quote...
This product warranty can be extended up to 24 Additional Months.
Discover more HERE!

Background

  • Fear conditioning is one of the most common methods to measure memory in rodents
  • It exploits the Pavlovian association between an unpleasant unconditioned stimulus (shock) to a conditioned neutral stimulus (sound cue or context)
  • The reaction of rodents, as predated animals, is to freeze (stay immobile) when exposed to fearful situations, such as a shock
  • The ratio between the freezing with and without shock gives a measure of the memorization of the event and hence allows for a fast memory screening

 Easy control, easy set up, easy expansion

The Ugo Basile system comes complete with:

  • Visible and IR lights
  • Ventilated isolation cubicle
  • Shocker and electrified cage
  • High intensity speaker for frequency and white noise sounds
  • IR camera, cables and lenses
  • Color-coded easy connections with the onboard electronics
  • Seamless to be expanded from 1 to 4 or more units for high throughput
  • Detection of the Freezing is automated through Any-maze or any other software, as well as the control of lights, sounds, shocker, etc.

Features

Benefits

One USB cable connection

Seamless installation and connection to PC

Miniaturized USB-IR camera with 2 lenses (normal and fish-eye)

Camera mounted on the ceiling and working in any light conditioning and with any cage dimension

Interchangeable contexts

Easy to mount on the walls with different patterns

IR and visible illumination Experiments can be run in light or darkness, also as a tool to alter the context
Same software controls devices and analyses freezing Fast learning curve in building protocols and automatic detection of freezing
Cages compatible with tethered animals Ready for optogenetics, electrophysiology, microscopy
Multiple cage dimensions Most suitable dimension for rats or mice
Operation
Camera IR sensible (lens 2.1mm and 4mm), visible light filtered
Active Silent Ventilation Yes
Read-Out USB to PC through AnyMaze, TTL I/O

General 

Shock

Constant current

Shock Intensity

from 0.1 to 3mA, in 0.1mA steps

Shock Duration

Duration: from 0.5 to 60 seconds

Illumination

Dimmable visible 6500K and IR 850nm

Sound

500Hz-18KHz, adjustable volume, max 100dB ± 3dB

White Noise Adjustable volume, max 77dB ± 3dB

Power 

100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 60W max

Operating Temperature

10°C to 40°C; 5% to 95% RH (non-condensing)

Sound Level

Negligible (sound cue excluded)

Physical

Dimension Outer Size Internal Size

Cubicle

52(d)x62(w)x58(h)cm

39(d)x47(w)x49(h)cm
Mouse Cage 20(w)x24(d)x30(h)cm 17x17x25(h)cm
Rat Cage 27(w)x32(d)x41(h)cm 25.5x25.5x36(h)cm
Mouse Cage XL 27(w)x32(d)x41(h)cm 25.5x25.5x36(h)cm
Observational Mouse 37(w)x24(d)x30(h)cm 35(w)x17(d)x25(h)cm
Front Vertical Door 29(w)x32.5(d)x41(h)cm 25.5(w)x26(d)x36(h)cm

Weight

20Kg

Shipping Weight

43Kg

Warranty

Warranty Fear Conditioning is covered by a 12-month warranty + 12 after product registration
UB-Care Additional UB-Care can be added for other 12 or 24 months

 

PC Requirements
PC Requirements

Minimum specification

Recommended specification

Best system

Windows version

XP service pack 3

Windows 10

Windows 11

Processor

Pentium Dual-core

Core i3

Core i7

RAM

1GB

4GB

8GB

Hard drive

1GB available

500GB

1TB

Display

1366 x 768px

1600 x 900px

1920 x 1080px

Expansion

Not applicable

Not applicable

PCi express ports

If you're planning to track in multiple apparatus, or track for long periods (> 12 hours), or include large numbers (> 500) of animals in experiments then we recommend you use the highest requirements.

Fear conditioning is one of the most common methods to measure memory in rodents. It exploits the Pavlovian association between an unpleasant unconditioned stimulus (shock) to a conditioned neutral stimulus (sound cue or context). The reaction of rodents, as predated animals, is to freeze (stay immobile) when exposed to fearful situations, such as a shock, or to a neutral stimulus they have associated (i.e. they remember) to it.

Once the association has happened and the animal has memorized it, freezing will happen also when the sound is presented without shock or when the animal experiences the context where the shock was delivered.

This is the basic principle of Fear Conditioned, which is normally referred to as Cued and Contextual to describe change in the cage interior (context, or appearance). This step of the experiment ensures that the detected freezing is actually the reaction to the sound and not to the memory of the environment. In the same way, the memorization of the context as the unconditioned stimulus (with no sound used), can be measured by comparing the freezing with shock (training), or in the same context without shock.

One of the reasons of the success of Fear Conditioning in memory studies is indeed its simplicity and the fact that it can be frequently used as a single trial, fast and high-throughput experiment.

The Ugo Basile Fear Conditioning system is composed of:

  • Isolation cubicle (up to 16 set-up)
  • Animal cage (one for every cubicle)
  • Video Tracking software (one for every system, eg. if you choose a 4 cubicle/animal set-up you need just one software license)
  • Optional Electric Shock Meter
  • Optional UB-Care warranty extension

Plese see the table below to choose the components that fits your experiment

Fear Conditioning System (up to 16 animal)

46001

1 animal system

Fear-Conditioning Unit, including Isolation Cubicle 46000-596 (inside dimensions 39(d)x47(w)x49(h)cm), dual visible/I.R. light 46000-325, speaker 46000-165, controller on-board 46000-105, camera 47400-035, cables and power supply.

System to be completed with video tracking software ANY-maze (full license or FC-version) and animal cage (Mouse XL, Mouse or Rat, see below)

46001-2

2 animal system

Fear-Conditioning Unit, including 2 Isolation Cubicle 46000-596 (inside dimensions 39(d)x47(w)x49(h)cm), dual visible/I.R. light 46000-325, speaker 46000-165, controller on-board 46000-105, 2 cameras 47400-035, cables and power supply.

System to be completed with video tracking software ANY-maze (full license or FC-version) and animal 2 cages (Mouse XL, Mouse or Rat, see below)

46001-3

3 animal system

Fear-Conditioning Unit, including 3 Isolation Cubicle 46000-596 (inside dimensions 39(d)x47(w)x49(h)cm), dual visible/I.R. light 46000-325, speaker 46000-165, controller on-board 46000-105, 4 cameras 47400-035, cables and power supply.

System to be completed with video tracking software ANY-maze (full license or FC-version) and animal 4 cages (Mouse XL, Mouse or Rat, see below)

46001-4

4 animal system

Fear-Conditioning Unit, including 4 Isolation Cubicle 46000-596 (inside dimensions 39(d)x47(w)x49(h)cm), dual visible/I.R. light 46000-325, speaker 46000-165, controller on-board 46000-105, 4 cameras 47400-035, cables and power supply.

System to be completed with video tracking software ANY-maze (full license or FC-version) and animal 4 cages (Mouse XL, Mouse or Rat, see below)

STANDARD Cages for Fear Conditioning (custom cage scapes and color available on request)

46002-D03

Rat Cage for Fear Conditioning, for thetered animal, with electrified grid floor, transparent walls, internal dimensions 25.5 width x 25.5 depth x 36 height cm. including 3 floors (gray, white and black) and 3 contexts (grey, stripes and checkerboard)

46003-D03

Mouse Cage for Fear Conditioning, for thetered animal, with electrified grid floor, transparent walls, internal dimensions 17 width x 17 depth x 25 height cm. including 3 plastic floors (gray, white and black) and 3 contexts (grey, stripes and checkerboard)

46004-D03 Mouse Cage XL for Fear Conditioning, for thetered animal, with electrified grid floor, transparent walls,  internal dimensions 25.5 width x 25.5 depth x 36 height cm. including 3 plastic floors (gray, white and black) and 3 contexts (grey, stripes and checkerboard)
46004-D01 Fear Conditioning Cage with frontal vertical door. Internal dimensions: 25.5(w)x26(d)x36(h) cm. Magnetic closure. Including 3 plastic floors (gray, white and black) and 3 contexts (grey, stripes and checkerboard.
46005 Fear Conditioning Cage for Observational Learning, Internal dimension 35(w)x17(d)25(h)cm; (17x17 cm for each cage)
49603 Operant Cage & Fear Conditioning cage with 2 nose pokes, minimum 2x2 coloured lights, white light (to be used as conditioning cue or omission cue), pellet dispenser with measuring feeder and electrified grid. Context and floor also available for free on request

Software (the system requires ANY-maze version 7 or higher):

60000-FC

ANY-maze software, FC-specific version (FEAR CONDITIONING TEST ONLY)

60000

ANY-maze software, full license (use for Fear Conditioning and all the other inplemented test)

Optional items:

46000-101

Electric shock meter for Fear Conditioning system (essential instrument to mesure current between cages)

46001-UBC12

UB-Care 12 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 1 animal system
46001-2-UBC12 UB-Care 12 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 2 animal system
46001-3-UBC12 UB-Care 12 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 3 animal system
46001-4-UBC12 UB-Care 12 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 4 animal system

46001-UBC24

UB-Care 24 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 1 animal system
46001-2-UBC24 UB-Care 24 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 2 animal system
46001-3-UBC24 UB-Care 24 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 3 animal system
46001-4-UBC24 UB-Care 24 Additional hardware warranty Fear Conditioning 4 animal system

Included Components:

46000-105

Controller on-board

46000-165

Speaker

46000-325

Dual (visible/I.R.) Light

46000-596 Sound Attenuating Cubicle (48.5(w)x38.5(d)x48.5(h)cm)

47400-035

USB Camera

M. Jiang, S. Vanan, H. Tu, W. Zhang, Z. Zhang, S. Chia, S. E. Jang, X. Zeng, W. Yu, J. Xu , K. Guo, L. Zeng, 2020, "Amyloid precursor protein intracellular domain-dependent regulation of FOXO3a inhibits adult hippocampal neurogenesis", Neurobiology of Aging

C.L., Bender, A. Otamendi, G.D. Calfa, V.A. Molina, 2018, "Prior Stress Promotes The Generalization Of Contextual Fear Memories: Involvement Of The Gabaergic Signaling Within The Basolateral Amygdala Complex", Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacolocy and Biological Psychiatry

S. R. Blume, M. Freedberg, J. E. Vantrease,R. Chan, M. Padival, M. J. Record, M. R. DeJoseph, J. H. Urban, J. A. Rosenkranz, 2017, "Sex-And Estrus-Dependent Differences In Rat Basolateral Amygdala", The Journal of Neuroscience

M. Verma, J.S. Schneider, 2017, "Strain Specific Effects of Low Level Lead Exposure on Associative Learning and Memory in Rats", NeuroToxicology

P.L. Roubertoux, N. Baril, P. Cau, C. Scajola, A. Ghata, C. Bartoli, P. Bourgeois, J. di Christofaro, S. Tordjman, M. Carlier, 2017, "Differential Brain, Cognitive and Motor Profiles Associated with Partial Trisomy. Modeling Down Syndrome in Mice", Behaviour Genetics

A. Sirri, V. Bianchi, M. Pelizzola, M. Mayhaus, P. Ricciardi-Castagnoli, D. Toniolo, P D'Adamo, 2010, "Temporal gene expression profile of the hippocampus following trace fear conditioning"Brain Research

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