Aug 21, 2025
Elevated body swing test in rats
Forked from Elevated body swing test in rats
- Eduard Bentea1,
- María Sanchiz Calvo1,
- Veerle Baekelandt1
- 1Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Protocol Citation: Eduard Bentea, María Sanchiz Calvo, Veerle Baekelandt 2025. Elevated body swing test in rats. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl8q319l2w/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: June 24, 2025
Last Modified: August 21, 2025
Protocol Integer ID: 220876
Keywords: ASAPCRN, motor function, behavioral test, rats, elevated body swing test in rat, elevated body swing test in rats protocol, elevated body swing test, elevated body swing, motor asymmetry in body swing, body swing, nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway, rats protocol, motor asymmetry, rat
Funders Acknowledgements:
ASAP (Aligning Science Across Parkinson's)
Abstract
Protocol for performing the elevated body swing test in rats. The elevated body swing evaluates motor asymmetry in body swings when the rat is briefly hanged by the tail, and can be used in animal models with unilateral lesions of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway.
Troubleshooting
Test
1h 0m 5s
Bring cages to the behavioral room for at least 01:00:00 prior to the test for habituation
1h
Place rat individually in a new cage
Wait until attains neutral position with all four limbs touching the bottom of the cage
Lift vertically by the base of the tail
Record the first direction of body deviation away from the vertical axis of 30 degree during a maximum 00:00:05 interval
5s
Repeat the test five times, with a brief rest in between