Active Avoidance

Synonyms

Conditioned avoidance response; two-/one-way active avoidance

Definition

Active avoidance refers to experimental behavioral paradigms where subjects (mainly rodents) are trained to, following the onset of a conditioned stimulus (CS), move from a starting position to another position in the testing apparatus within a fixed amount of time (avoidance). Failure to move within the given time frame, results in the onset of a negative reinforcer, usually a weak electric shock in a grid floor, until a correct move is performed (escape). In animals performing at a high level of correct response following training, drugs that are effective as antipsychotics, but not other classes of drugs, show a unique ability to selectively suppress the avoidance behavior, within a clinically relevant dose range, while leaving escape behavior intact. Because of this robust marker for the prediction of antipsychotic activity, the active avoidance test is primarily used, and considered