Publications

Operant Assay

This online publication highlights in video form the operant assay.

Anderson EM, et al. Use of the Operant Orofacial Pain Assessment Device (OPAD) to measure changes in nociceptive behavior. J Vis Exp. 2013 Jun 10;(76):e50336. PMID:23792907. 

 

 

OPAD Emphasis

This review provides an overview of operant assays, with emphasis on the OPAD.

Murphy et al. Operant assays for assessing pain in preclinical rodent models: highlights from an orofacial assay. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2014 Aug 8. PMID:25103871.

 

 

Placebo Effects in Rats

Demonstrates the use of the operant assay to study placebo effects in rats. Assessment of the cognitive component was critical for this study.

Nolan TA, et al. Placebo-induced analgesia in an operant pain model in rats. Pain, 2012 Oct;153(10):2009-16. PMID:22871471. 

 

 

Characterizing Chronic Pain

Use of the operant assay to characterize chronic neuropathic pain.

Rossi HL, et al. Characterization of bilateral trigeminal constriction injury using an operant facial pain assay. Neuroscience. 2012 Nov 8;224:294-306. PMID: 22909425. 

 

 

Comparison of Three Mouse Strains

The first paper to characterize mice using this operant pain assay. A comparison of three mouse strains.

Neubert JK, et al. Characterization of mouse orofacial pain and the effects of lesioning TRPV1-expressing neurons on operant behavior. Mol Pain. 2008 Oct 1;4:43. PMID: 18828909. 

 

 

Place Conditioning

The use and persistence of place conditioning as a measure of the reward potential of drugs—a key indicator of potential abuse liability.

Sakoori K, Murphy NP. Maintenance of conditioned place preferences and aversion in C57BL6 mice: effects of repeated and drug state testing. Behav Brain Res. 2005 May 7;160(1):34-43. PMID: 15836898. 

 

 

Mechanical Versus Thermal Pain

Uses the operant assay to compare mechanical versus thermal pain directly using the same outcome measures, thus standardizing the way pain is evaluated across different stimuli.

Nolan TA, et al. Adaptation of a novel operant orofacial testing system to characterize both mechanical and thermal pain. Behav Brain Res. 2011 Mar 1;217(2):477-80. PMID: 20974188.

 

 

Thermal Stimulus Response

Original description of the novel operant assay and thermal stimulus responses.

Neubert JK, et al. Use of a novel thermal operant behavioral assay for characterization of orofacial pain sensitivity. Pain. 2005 Aug;116(3):386-95. PMID: 15982812. 

 

 

Evaluating Sex Differences

Highlights that sex differences can be evaluated easily using the operant assay.

Vierck CJ, et al.. Sex differences in thermal pain sensitivity and sympathetic reactivity for two strains of rat. J Pain. 2008 Aug;9(8):739-49. PMID: 18486556.