Figure 2
Effect of handling method and restraint by scruff on voluntary interaction and anxiety (mean ± sem). (A) Duration of voluntary interaction with handling device (hand for tail and cup, or hand holding tunnel) assessed immediately before (b) and after (a) scruff restraint among mice familiarised for one week with tail, tunnel or cup methods in first and third daily restraint sessions, and when picked up but not restrained 24 h later. (B) Measures of anxiety in an elevated plus maze test conducted two days after experience of 3rd scruff restraint among males (m) and females (f) familiarised with tail, tunnel or cup handling. Data for mice held for different durations during handling familiarisation pooled. P values from repeated measures ANOVAs shown in Tables 3 and 4. Asterisks indicate significance of planned comparisons between tunnel or cup versus tail (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.005, ****P < 0.001). Data for tunnel and cup handled mice pooled across groups experiencing same or tail handling at cage cleaning prior to the experiment (N sizes as for Fig. 1).
