A revision to marble burying: video analysis during the marble burying task is imperative to understanding rodent behavior

Abstract

The translational value of the marble burying task (MBT) is debatable. Here we performed video analysis of behaviors during the MBT to accurately capture the details of all behaviors displayed during this task. Our results show that a count of marbles buried at the end of the task may not be a good translational correlate of the ‘intentional marble burying’ that the task is assumed to measure. Rather, the number of marbles buried may be measuring accidental marble burying due to ‘rapid digging’. Video analysis during MBT provides a novel approach to characterize the many behaviors displayed during this task and may explain inconsistencies reported in the literature. However, the number of marbles buried at the end of the MBT may still have value as a screening test for anxiogenic or anxiolytic interventions. Any interventions that show significant alterations in the number of marbles buried can be pursued further through more robust and comprehensive behavior scoring methods. The marble burying task (MBT) is used to measure anxiety-like behavior, relying on a snapshot of the number of marbles buried at the end of the test. This Brief Communication introduces a more extensive behavioral analysis to improve the translational value of MBT for clinical psychological phenotypes.