Guidelines for Behavioral Research Using Animals - IACUC ...

_______________________________________________________________________________BackgroundBehavioral research has made significant contributions to the understanding, treatment, andprevention of behavioral disorders. Experimental animals play an essential role in this work.The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), together with other institutes of the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) that have relevant research programs, prepared this handbook.The handbook provides a description of and references for commonly used behavioralresearch methods and associated animal welfare considerations in accordance with Federallaws governing animal research. It is intended to assist Institutional Animal Care and UseCommittees (IACUCs) in their reviews of protocols involving animal behavior and animalcognition, particularly when expertise is not available on the committee, and to assistinvestigators in planning their experiments.The development of this handbook took place in three stages. Drs. Adrian Morrison andRichard Nakamura, in consultation with Drs. Hugh Evans and Steven Maier, representing theCommittee on Animal Research and Ethics of the American Psychological Association,determined the general subject areas that this handbook would include. Research scientistswith specific expertise in each area were selected to work with a section chairperson increating a preliminary document that was presented at a 1-1/2-day conference. Present at theconference were participating researchers, laboratory animal veterinarians, andrepresentatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Office ofLaboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation ofLaboratory Animal Care, International (AAALAC). Each chairperson was responsible forpreparation of a document summarizing the salient points from each topic. The editors thenincorporated revisions as provided by the reviewers. They also contributed substantially tothe original writing in most of the chapters.These conference documents served as the resource from which this volume was assembledand edited by Adrian Morrison, Nancy Ator, Hugh Evans, and Richard Nakamura with theeditorial assistance of Deborah Faryna, employing the suggestions received from a widerange of commentators, including research scientists, laboratory animal veterinarians, andinterested lay people. The document cannot provide a thorough review of the literature; it ismeant to guide the researcher and IACUC to appropriate considerations and entry points inthe literature. A few key references for various parts of this work are provided in the text.References are provided at the end of each chapter. In addition to articles specificallymentioned in the text, there are additional references for further exploration of theissues. Also, the reader should be assured that all statements, whether documented5