analysis of different results on anxiety related behavior on the same group - (Nov/03/2011 )

Hi,
IF someone is familiar with behavioral testing on mice. I did elevated plus maze and open field test on mice in order to study anxiety behavior. I have 2 animal groups. In elevated plus maze, I could see difference between the 2 groups . as for the open field, the difference isnt statistically significative.
I dont really know how to interpret those results
thanks for help

Anxiety isn't my area, but here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

1. Are you treating the data properly (parametric/non-parametric, paired/non-paired, etc.)?
2. Although the two tests are both considered 'anxiety' tests in a general sense, it's possible that they test slightly different aspects of what we would call anxiety in humans. In this case, it may not be terribly surprising to have different results.
3. For the open field data, how far are you from a significant result? In the behavior testing I do (pain/somatosensory), there is a large degree of variability within groups. You may be able to add a couple of animals to each group and tighten up the error. This will increase the statistical power of your testing, and may allow you to get a significant difference.