Zero Maze

The standard zero maze is used to assess anxiety-like behaviour in small laboratory animals (rat/mice).

In this task, the conflict between the innate fear that rodents have of open areas versus their desire to explore novel environments is exploited. Security is provided by the closed arms whereas the open arms offer exploratory value. When anxious, the natural tendency of rodents is to prefer enclosed dark spaces to opened brightly lit spaces. In this context, anxiety-related behaviour is measured by the degree to which the rodent avoids the unenclosed areas of the maze.