Research data · Animal model

6-OHDA

From 2021 to 2025, 255 animal research papers mentioned 6-OHDA and at least one behavioral test.

That is 22% fewer than the 327 papers of 2011 to 2015. Between the same two periods, all the animal research papers that mention any of the 90 tests we count rose 22%. The 2021 to 2025 count may run low because of a dip in PubMed's indexing, explained under the year chart.

255 animal research papers from 2021 to 2025 mentioned 6-OHDA and a test
22% fewer papers than in 2011 to 2015
24% of these papers mention the rotarod
25% of the 1,006 animal research papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention 6-OHDA also mention a test

The tests mentioned with 6-OHDA

Rotational behavior (rotometer) appears in 16% of these papers and in 0.3% of all 32,277 papers that mention a test. That makes it 48 times as common in this research. Each bar is one test, with how many of the 255 papers from 2021 to 2025 mention it, and what share that is. A paper that mentions two tests counts under both.

The 15 tests these papers mention most

62 papers 24%
50 papers 20%
32 papers 13%
24 papers 9%
19 papers 7%
17 papers 7%
16 papers 6%
16 papers 6%
13 papers 5%
12 papers 5%
10 papers 4%
9 papers 4%
All 50 tests these papers mention
Papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention 6-OHDA and each test
TestPapersShare of the 255 papers
Rotarod6224%
Open field5020%
Rotational behavior (rotometer)4216%
Cylinder test3213%
Treadmill running249%
Catalepsy bar test197%
Elevated plus maze177%
Forced swim test166%
Morris water maze166%
Sucrose preference test145%
Novel object recognition145%
Gait analysis135%
Beam walking125%
Pole test104%
Von Frey test94%
Grip strength94%
Passive avoidance73%
Y-maze42%
Tail suspension test42%
Wheel running42%
Adhesive removal test31%
Tail flick31%
Formalin test31%
Operant conditioning31%
Skilled reaching31%
Hot plate31%
T-maze31%
Active avoidance (shuttle box)31%
Novelty-suppressed feeding31%
Five-choice serial reaction time task31%
Splash test31%
Hole-board21%
Light-dark box21%
Prepulse inhibition and acoustic startle21%
Three-chamber sociability test21%
Radial arm maze1under 1%
Hargreaves plantar test1under 1%
Step-down avoidance1under 1%
Self-administration1under 1%
Burrowing1under 1%
Object location test1under 1%
Marble burying1under 1%
Three-choice serial reaction time task1under 1%
Self-grooming1under 1%
Elevated zero maze1under 1%
Conditioned place preference1under 1%
Barnes maze1under 1%
Attentional set shifting1under 1%
Wire hang and inverted grid1under 1%
Cold plate1under 1%

Tests named in 30 or more of these papers link to a page on that test with 6-OHDA. To count the papers that mention two or more tests together, use the test battery tool.

Papers by year

Animal research papers that mention 6-OHDA and a behavioral test, by year, 2001 to 2026

The 2026 bar counts papers added to PubMed by November 8, 2026.

  • Papers in a full year
  • 2026 so far
Show the counts for each year
Papers by year
YearPapers
200153
200238
200343
200448
200568
200653
200759
200852
200945
201050
201148
201273
201362
201461
201583
201662
201768
201862
201974
202056
202161
202247
202334
202455
202558
2026 (part year)47

Papers that mention 6-OHDA and a test fell from 61 in 2021 to 34 in 2023, then rose to 58 in 2025. Part of this dip may come from PubMed's indexing rather than from fewer studies. We take a paper's species from PubMed's indexing when the indexing names one. Otherwise PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, has to find a species in the title or abstract, or the paper is not counted. Papers that PubMed indexed under the subject heading Animals also fell and rose, from 200,221 in 2021 to 156,447 in 2023 and 235,479 in 2025.

Disease models in papers that mention 6-OHDA

Each bar is one disease model, with how many of the 255 papers from 2021 to 2025 are tagged with it, and what share that is. The model comes from the paper's MeSH terms, the subject headings the National Library of Medicine adds when it indexes a paper. A paper without MeSH terms gets its model from PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, if PubTator 3 finds the disease in the title or abstract. A paper can count under more than one model.

Papers from 2021 to 2025 by disease model

Which species the papers used

Each bar is a share of the 255 papers from 2021 to 2025. A paper can use more than one species, so the shares can add to more than 100%.

Species

Rat
191 papers 75%
Mouse
70 papers 27%
Other animals
5 papers 2%
Zebrafish
1 paper under 1%

“Other animals” counts papers that use none of the species this chart names.

NIH funding

18 of the 255 papers (7%) had NIH funding. NINDS, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, funded the most, 12 of them. A paper counts as NIH-funded when its PubMed record lists an NIH grant, or when NIH RePORTER links it to an NIH project.

NIH-funded papers by institute

NINDSNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
12 papers 67%
NIGMSNational Institute of General Medical Sciences
5 papers 28%
NIDA
3 papers 17%
NIMHNational Institute of Mental Health
3 papers 17%
NICHDEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
1 paper 6%
NIAIDNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
1 paper 6%

Each share is of the NIH-funded papers. A paper with grants from two institutes counts under both.

The most cited papers from 2021 to 2025

These papers from 2021 to 2025 mention 6-OHDA and a behavioral test and have the most citations, as counted by NIH's iCite on November 5, 2026.

  1. IDO-1 inhibition protects against neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in 6-OHDA induced murine model of Parkinson's disease.

    Neurotoxicology, 2021. 48 citations.

  2. Protective mechanism of Syringic acid in an experimental model of Parkinson's disease.

    Metab Brain Dis, 2021. 47 citations.

  3. DA5-CH and Semaglutide Protect against Neurodegeneration and Reduce α-Synuclein Levels in the 6-OHDA Parkinson's Disease Rat Model.

    Parkinsons Dis, 2022. 45 citations.

  4. Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Enhances Neurotrophic Factors and Alleviates Neuroinflammation in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.

    Cereb Cortex, 2021. 45 citations.

  5. The Neuroprotective Effects of the CB2 Agonist GW842166x in the 6-OHDA Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease.

    Cells, 2021. 38 citations.

How we counted

A paper counts here when it is animal research and its title or abstract mentions 6-OHDA and at least one of the 90 behavioral tests. A count is a number of papers, not of experiments, labs or animals. A paper that mentions 6-OHDA only in its methods is missed, so the count runs low.

A paper is animal research when its MeSH terms name an animal species. If they name none, NCBI's text-mining service PubTator 3 has to find one in the title or abstract. Papers on animals other than mice, rats, zebrafish, flies and primates count only when they also mention a test. Many of them study people or use the same words for something else.

The search terms for 6-OHDA are in the download Animal models and brain techniques. The counts in the chart of tests are in Tests mentioned with each model or technique. The full method, with each source and its terms of use, is on our main page, Behavioral tests in published research.

More animal models

Each animal model with 100 or more papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention a test has a page. These are the others, each with that count.

How to cite

APA

ConductScience. (2026, November 13). Behavioral tests with 6-OHDA [Data set]. https://conductscience.com/resources/data/animal-models/6-ohda

BibTeX

@misc{conductscience_6_ohda_2026,
  author = {{ConductScience}},
  title = {Behavioral tests with 6-OHDA},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  url = {https://conductscience.com/resources/data/animal-models/6-ohda},
  note = {Data set, released November 13, 2026},
}

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