Tail flick test
Tail Flick Test
The Tail Flick Test (pronunciation: /teɪl flɪk tɛst/) is a widely used experimental method in pain research to measure the pain sensitivity or pain tolerance in animals, particularly rodents.
Etymology
The term "Tail Flick Test" is derived from the action that the test measures, which is the reflexive "flick" of an animal's tail in response to a painful stimulus.
Procedure
In the Tail Flick Test, a focused beam of radiant heat is directed towards the tail of the animal. The time taken for the animal to flick its tail away from the heat source is measured. This latency period is considered as an index of the animal's pain threshold. The test is based on the principle that an animal experiencing pain will show a reflexive action to move away from the painful stimulus.
Applications
The Tail Flick Test is primarily used in research to study the efficacy of analgesic drugs. It is also used to study the mechanisms of pain and analgesia, and to understand the genetic and environmental influences on pain sensitivity.
Related Terms
- Analgesia: The inability to feel pain.
- Nociception: The sensory nervous system's response to harmful or potentially harmful stimuli.
- Pain Threshold: The minimum point at which a stimulus causes pain.
- Latency Period: The time between the application of a stimulus and the response.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Tail flick test
- Wikipedia's article - Tail flick test
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski