The multilevel exploration test, a novel paradigm to measure exploratory behavior in depression animal models and the involvement of the PL-ZI circuit.
Acta pharmacologica Sinica May 19, 2026 Jun-Nan Xu, Jing-Ting Li, Ru-Xia Xu et al.
Diminished drive is one of the core symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis, yet its underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive, primarily due to a lack of appropriate animal models. We developed a novel Multilevel Exploration Test (MET) apparatus to evaluate exploratory behavior, which is captured as a dynamic, stage-dependent process involving "search", "attend/investigate",...