Voluntarism and freedom of movement
Core to MDA is the principle of voluntarism. Animals are gently trained to consume drug solutions directly from a pipette without restraint. Figure 1B illustrates the typical posture of a voluntarily participating mouse during MDA, while Figure 1C-E show the same in live settings. A detailed video walkthrough of the MDA method is available at https://www.rodentmda.ch/resources/teaching-resources. The procedure occurs in the home environment with the animal not having to leave the cage’s environment and actively approaching the pipette held by the experimenter. Importantly, no physical immobilisation is used (Fig. 1C). This approach minimises procedural stress, eliminates the risk of aspiration or…