Title: open field test
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - open field test
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11973
Status: current

Definition
Procedure to observe changes in motor activity and rearing, in which a rodent is placed on a surface and distance and patterns of movement are recorded.

Notes
1) Typically the animal is placed within a circular enclosed arena with grid lines marking the floor and the number of line crossing and rearing events are counted within a defined period of time.
2) Automated procedures include video capture methods using photocell devices to measure activity as photocell beam breaks.

Related Terms
- motor activity: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11883
- rearing: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12042

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 893 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11973/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11973/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11973/xml

Citation: Citation: 'open field test' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11973
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-07-22T22:22:25+00:00