As the smallest mammal with a gyrencephalic cerebral cortex, ferrets are becoming increasingly important animal models to study neurological disorders. In order for them to be optimally used, typical behavioral measurements are highly desirable. To ascertain a baseline level of behavior, we conducted a battery of tests assessing motor, social, memory, headache, and aspects of depressive-like behavior. Adult male ferrets participated in open field, beam walk, sucrose preference, eye contact, light/dark box, socialization, and novel object recognition tests. The animals were assessed in three cohorts, which differed in age, with the youngest group being approximately 1 year younger than the oldest. Small, but significant, differences occurred between the youngest cohort and the older groups in several areas, suggesting that age may be an important factor when evaluating ferret behavior. Ferrets showed a high level of sociability in the eye contact tests and with novel animal preference. These experiments represent an important baseline of expected normative results that can provide a reference for normal ferret behavior and expected variability. The data reported here may serve as a reference for future intervention studies using the ferret. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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评估雪貂的基线行为测试。

作为具有回旋大脑皮层的最小哺乳动物，雪貂正成为研究神经系统疾病的重要动物模型。为了使它们得到最佳使用，非常需要典型的行为测量。为了确定行为的基线水平，我们进行了一系列测试，评估运动、社交、记忆、头痛和抑郁样行为的各个方面。成年雄性雪貂参加了旷野、光束行走、蔗糖偏好、眼神交流、明暗箱、社交和新物体识别测试。这些动物在三个年龄不同的队列中进行评估，最年轻的组比最年长的组年轻大约 1 岁。在几个地区，最年轻的群体和年长的群体之间存在微小但显着的差异，表明在评估雪貂行为时，年龄可能是一个重要因素。雪貂在眼神接触测试中表现出高度的社交能力，并具有新的动物偏好。这些实验代表了预期规范结果的重要基线，可以为正常的雪貂行为和预期的可变性提供参考。这里报告的数据可以作为未来使用雪貂进行干预研究的参考。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。这里报告的数据可以作为未来使用雪貂进行干预研究的参考。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。这里报告的数据可以作为未来使用雪貂进行干预研究的参考。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。