Jun 02, 2026

Open Field

DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.81wgbjoxovpk/v1
  • 1Department of pharmacology and physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal;
  • 2Neural Signaling and Circuitry research group (SNC);
  • 3Center for Interdisciplinary Research on the Brain and Learning (CIRCA);
  • 4Institut Courtois d’innovation biomédicale;
  • 5Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815;
  • 6Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Amandine Even
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.81wgbjoxovpk/v1
Protocol Citation: Amandine Even, Sriparna Mukherjee, Louis-Eric Trudeau 2026. Open Field. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.81wgbjoxovpk/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: March 29, 2026
Last Modified: June 02, 2026
Protocol  Integer ID: 314081
Keywords: open field test, locomotor activity, infrared actimeter, exploratory behavior, rodent model behavioral testing, spontaneous activity, assessment of spontaneous locomotor activity, spontaneous locomotor activity, locomotor behavior, open field, open field this protocol, mice, infrared actimeter chamber, automated tracking software, tracking software
Funders Acknowledgements:
Aligning Science Across Parkinson's
Grant ID: ASAP-000525
Abstract
This protocol describes the assessment of spontaneous locomotor activity in mice using the open field test.
Locomotor behavior is recorded in an infrared actimeter chamber and analyzed using automated tracking software.
Materials
Apparatus: SuperFlex Open Field (Omnitech, Superflex sensor version 4.6)
Software: Fusion v5.6 SuperFlex (RRID:SCR_017972)
Safety warnings
When the recording starts, put a black paper on the laptop screen.
Experimenter should leave the room during the recording. If the experimenter wants to remain inside the room during the recording, he/she/them should stay away from the recording chambers and minimize any noise. It is advisable not to use a laptop computer, tablet, or cellphone during the recording time. The reason is that the these devises emit light that is visible to animals and noise, something that can perturb them.
A chamber partition can be used to test multiple mice at the same time.
Ethics statement
Ethical approval:
- Ensure all procedures are approved by the institutional animal care and ethics committees
- Follow guidelines as outlined by the Council of Animal Care in your country
Before start
See the General considerations and habituation protocol.
If experiment is done during the dark cycle, it is preferable to start the behaviour work at least one hour after the light-dark cycle change.
Acclimatation to the room
1h
Mice are acclimated in the room where the open field test is performed 01:00:00 before the experiment

1h
Recording
39m 30s
The locomotor behavior of mice is recorded using an infrared actimeter (Superflex sensor version 4.6, Omnitech) using the Fusion software (v5.6 Superflex Edition, RRID:SCR_017972).
Subjects are placed in the chamber without acclimation and the recording is started.
30s
Mice spend a total of 00:30:00 in the chamber.

30m
Once testing is completed, the mouse identification tag number is noted, and mice are placed back into their home cage.
2m
The number of feces pellets present in each open field box is also noted.
2m
The open field boxes are cleaned before testing the next mouse.
5m
Protocol references