I. Gyertyan, ANALYSIS OF THE MARBLE BURYING RESPONSE - MARBLES SERVE TO MEASURE DIGGING RATHER THAN EVOKE BURYING, Behavioural pharmacology, 6(1), 1995, pp. 24-31
Marble burying has been suggested as a model of obsessive-compulsive d
isorder (OCD) based on the fact that specific serotonin reuptake inhib
itors selectively influenced this response. Studying the behaviour we
observed that mice also exhibited intense digging activity in the abse
nce of glass marbles. This digging activity showed no habituation eith
er between sessions or within a session, and it could be inhibited by
psychotropic drugs in a manner similar to the marble burying response.
On the basis of the results a methodological and a theoretical conclu
sion can be drawn. First, it is concluded that glass marbles themselve
s do not necessarily provide a fear-provoking stimulus but they serve
rather as a convenient means of measuring the intensity of digging act
ivity. Alternative ways of measuring the intensity of digging gave hig
h correlations with marble burying. Second, the behaviour observed is
not burying (the marbles) but digging/burrowing (the bedding material)
, which is elicited by the presence of a ''diggable'' ground. The puta
tive compulsive nature of this behaviour may add support to the hypoth
esis that marble burying may be a model of OCD.