A laboratory study evaluated noninvasive temperature measurement during mild stress. Diazepam-sensitive temperature changes supported the method but did not create a clinical test for anxiety or intoxication.
The experiment studied sixty-eight mice across strains and sexes using infrared body and tail temperatures and implanted subcutaneous tags. During brief stress, body and subcutaneous temperatures rose while tail temperature fell.
Diazepam-treated mice showed lower body-surface and subcutaneous temperatures in the tested setting. Testing order within a cage also influenced the temperature pattern.
Surface temperature reflects blood-flow distribution and environmental conditions as well as behavioral state. The investigators did not find all hypothesized handling-method differences, illustrating that the measures were not interchangeable.
This work supports an animal-research method under defined conditions. It cannot establish a human anxiety diagnosis, benzodiazepine concentration, or impairment level from temperature. A drug-sensitive physiologic endpoint still requires its species, stressor, measurement location, and timing to be retained when interpreting the result.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC8773026.