1. What could be going wrong?Randomisation and blinding

3. You can usually find what you’re looking for … • 12 graduate psychology students • 5 day experiment: rats in T maze with dark arm alternating at random, and the dark arm always reinforced • 2 groups – “Maze Bright” and “Maze dull” Rosenthal and Fode (1963), Behav Sci 8, 183-9

4. NXY-059 (Astra Zeneca) 11 publications, 29 experiments, 408 animals Improved outcome by 44% (35-53%) Drugs in animal stroke models Efficacyè Randomisation Blinded conduct of experiment Blinded assessment of outcome Macleod et al, 2008

5. What’s a stroke drug worth?

6. The same thing happens for other diseases … Stroke Alzheimer´s disease Multiple Sclerosis Parkinson´s disease

7. Are many studies at risk of bias?

8. But it’s just the neurosciences, right? Reporting of measures to reduce bias in 254 reports of in vivo, ex vivo or in vitro studies involving non human animals, identified from random sample of 2000 publications from PubMed Ioannidis et al, 2014

9. But not in leading institutions, right? 1173 publications using non human animals, published in 2009 or 2010, from 5 leading UK universities “an outstanding contribution to the internationally excellent position of the UK in biomedical science and clinical/translational research.” “impressed by the strength within the basic neurosciences that were returned …particular in the areas of behavioural, cellular and molecular neuroscience” Blind I/E SSC Rand

10. But not in journals of repute, right? Top 10% Top 10% Top 10% Top 10% Bottom 10% Bottom 10% Bottom 10% Bottom 10%

11. Reporting research detailsThe Morris Water Maze in Alzheimer’s research

12. Reporting research detailsReporting drop outs minocycline control minocycline control