To begin, place the plus shaped maze on the testing platform just below the camera. Using the potentiometer on the wall, adjust the light intensity to 70 luxe at its center with the help of a luxometer with its sensor placed at the center of the maze during the adjustment. Open the software by double clicking on the viewer software icon and load the configuration for Elevated Plus Maze or EPM testing by clicking on the icon on the upper left side of the configuration tab.
Enter the animal information into the corresponding fields of the experiment tab including animal id, genotype, gender, and experiment information. Verify that the zone's position, open arms, and closed arms are correctly configured. Using a visual control and computer mouse, ensure that the virtual outline zones match the corresponding EPM zones.
Place the mouse cursor on the arrow icon on the upper left side of the acquisition tab. Remove the animal from the home cage and place it gently in the center of the EPM. Start the experiment by left clicking on the computer mouse.
After five minutes, save the recorded data by clicking okay. Name the file and click save. Export the results to a csv file for offline analysis by clicking on the icon on the left vertical panel of the data analysis tab.
In the EPM test, none of the parameters related to anxiety-like behavior were altered in maternal heterozygous Ube3A mutants.
