What is the Open Field Test?

The Open Field Test (OFT) is one of the most broadly used assays in behavioral neuroscience. Rodents are placed individually in a brightly lit, novel arena and allowed to explore freely. The pattern of locomotion — particularly the balance between thigmotaxis (wall hugging) and center exploration — provides a well-validated measure of anxiety-like behavior. Total locomotor activity, rearing frequency, and center dwell time serve as indices of general activity, exploration motivation, and anxiolysis, respectively. The Ugo Basile Open Field is engineered specifically for video-based tracking, with high-contrast, non-reflective surfaces that maximize tracking reliability.

Key Features

• Non-Reflective, Anti-Glare Surface: Specially treated walls and floor eliminate reflective hot spots that cause tracking dropout in standard arenas, ensuring uninterrupted animal path reconstruction during video analysis.
• Textured Anti-Slip Floor: A warm-textured floor surface prevents slipping and provides natural traction, reducing confounds from locomotor abnormalities due to poor grip.
• Mouse and Rat Configurations: Cat. 47432 (mouse, 44 × 44 cm grey), Cat. 47433 (mouse, transparent), Cat. 47100 (rat, 100 × 100 cm grey), and Cat. 47150 (rat with 4 partition dividers) cover all common experimental designs.
• Fully Disassemblable: All walls are removable for thorough cleaning between subjects, preventing odor cue carryover that could bias locomotor and anxiety measurements.
• NOR Compatible: The open dimensions and wall height are designed to accommodate NOR objects (Cat. 47002/47003) placed with magnetic bases, enabling the same arena to be used for both locomotion and recognition memory tests.