Active Avoidance Shuttle-Box

The Ugo Basile Active Avoidance Shuttle-Box (Cat. 40532 for rats, 40533 for mice) assesses associative fear learning and memory through a classic two-way active avoidance paradigm. Animals learn to escape — and eventually avoid — an aversive foot shock by shuttling to the opposite compartment in response to a predictive conditioned stimulus (light or sound).

Equipped with a constant-current 8-pole scrambling shocker, tilting-floor crossing detection, and a flexible timeline-based protocol manager, the system is driven by a 12-inch touch-screen controller supporting up to 4 simultaneous cages. High-contrast non-reflective surfaces are optimized for optional video-tracking integration.

Key Features

• Two-way shuttlebox for active avoidance learning paradigms
• Tilting-floor detection for precise crossing measurement
• Shock: 0–3 mA, constant current, 8-pole scrambling
• Sound stimulus: 100–18,000 Hz; Light: 0–100%
• Rat (40532): internal 48 × 20 × 22 cm; Mouse (40533): internal 38 × 9 × 17 cm
• 12-inch touch-screen controller for up to 4 cages

Research Applications

The Active Avoidance Shuttle-Box is a classic and highly validated test of associative learning and memory, measuring an animal's ability to predict and actively escape or avoid aversive outcomes. It is sensitive to a wide range of compounds affecting memory, anxiety, and motor systems, and is widely used in both drug discovery and transgenic model characterization.

• Associative learning: Measuring acquisition of conditioned avoidance responses
• Memory retention: Assessing long-term retention of avoidance learning across sessions
• Antipsychotic screening: Evaluating effects of antipsychotics on conditioned avoidance response (CAR)
• Cognitive phenotyping: Characterizing learning and memory deficits in transgenic or lesion models
• Neurological drug effects: Assessing impacts of sedatives, anxiolytics, and cognitive enhancers on active avoidance