Marble burying is an animal model used in scientific research to depict anxiety or obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) behavior.
It is based on the observation that rats and mice will bury either harmful or harmless objects in their bedding.
[citation needed] Common symptoms of OCD include recurrent obsessions or compulsions.
When the rodents are injected with drugs used to treat anxiety or OCD, the amount of marbles buried decreases.
The test is sensitive to two major classes of drugs: the Selective Serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines.
[4] Rodents are placed for thirty minutes in a standard cage filled with 5 cm depth of wood chip bedding with 10 marbles evenly spaced.
Critics also point out that the marble burying test reacts to two types of drugs the SSRIs and benzodiazepines.
[4] The marble burying test measures one acute dose of anti-anxiety agent for thirty minutes.