Three Pillars of Automated Home-Cage Phenotyping of Mice: Novel Findings, Refinement, and Reproducibility Based on Literature and Experience

Longitudinal quantitative assessment of TMEV-IDD-induced MS phenotypes in two inbred mouse strains using automated video tracking technology

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disabling disease of the central nervous system affecting over 2.5 million people worldwide. Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD) is a murine model that reproduces the progressive form of MS and serves as a reference model for studying virus-induced demyelination. Certain mouse strains such as SJL are highly susceptible to this virus and serve as a prototype strain for studying TMEV infection. Other strains such as SWR are also susceptible, but their disease course following TMEV infection differs from SJL's. The quantification of motor and behavioral deficits following the induction of TMEV-IDD could help identify the differences between the two strains. Motor deficits have commonly been measured with the rotarod apparatus, but a multicomponent assessment tool has so far been lacking. For that purpose, we present a novel way of quantifying locomotor deficits, gait alterations and behavioral changes in this well-established mouse model of multiple sclerosis by employing automated video analysis technology (The PhenoTyper, Noldus Information Technology). We followed 12 SJL and 12 SWR female mice and their mock-infected counterparts over a period of 9 months following TMEV-IDD induction. We demonstrated that SJL and SWR mice both suffer significant gait alterations and reduced exploration following TMEV infection. However, SJL mice also display an earlier and more severe decline in spontaneous locomotion, especially in velocity, as well as in overall activity. Maintenance behaviors such as eating and grooming are not affected in either of the two strains. The system also showed differences in mock-infected mice from both strains, highlighting an age-related decline in spontaneous locomotion in the SJL strain, as opposed to hyperactivity in the SWR strain. Our study confirms that this automated video tracking system can reliably track the progression of TMEV-IDD for 9 months. We have also shown how this system can be utilized for longitudinal phenotyping in mice by describing useful parameters that quantify locomotion, gait and behavior.

Clinicopathologic Dissociation: Robust Lafora Body Accumulation in Malin KO Mice Without Observable Changes in Home-Cage Behavior

Lafora disease (LD) is a syndrome of progressive myoclonic epilepsy and cumulative neurocognitive deterioration caused by recessively inherited genetic lesions of EPM2A (laforin) or NHLRC1 (malin). Neuropsychiatric symptomatology in LD is thought to be directly downstream of neuronal and astrocytic polyglucosan aggregates, termed Lafora bodies (LBs), which faithfully accumulate in an age-dependent manner in all mouse models of LD. In this study, we applied home-cage monitoring to examine the extent of neurobehavioral deterioration in a model of malin-deficient LD as a means to identify robust preclinical endpoints that may guide the selection of novel genetic treatments. At 6 weeks, ∼6-7 months, and ∼12 months of age, malin-deficient mice ("KO") and wild-type (WT) littermates underwent a standardized home-cage behavioral assessment designed to non-obtrusively appraise features of rest/arousal, consumptive behaviors, risk aversion, and voluntary wheel-running. At all timepoints, and over a range of metrics that we report transparently, WT and KO mice were essentially indistinguishable. In contrast, within WT mice compared across the same timepoints, we identified age-related nocturnal hypoactivity, diminished sucrose preference, and reduced wheel-running. Neuropathological examinations in subsets of the same mice revealed expected age-dependent LB accumulation, gliosis, and microglial activation in cortical and subcortical brain regions. At 12 months of age, despite the burden of neocortical LBs, we did not identify spontaneous seizures during an electroencephalographic (EEG) survey, and KO and WT mice exhibited similar spectral EEG features. However, in an in vitro assay of neocortical function, paroxysmal bursts of network activity (UP states) in KO slices were more prolonged at 3 and 6 months of age, but similar to WT at 12 months. KO mice displayed a distinct response to pentylenetetrazole, with a greater incidence of clonic seizures and a more pronounced postictal suppression of movement, feeding, and drinking behavior. Together, these results highlight the clinicopathologic dissociation in a mouse model of LD, where the accrual of LBs may latently modify cortical circuit function and seizure threshold without clinically meaningful changes in home-cage behavior. Our findings allude to a delay between LB accumulation and neurobehavioral decline in LD: one that may provide a window for treatment, and whose precise duration may be difficult to ascertain within the typical lifespan of a laboratory mouse.

Investigation of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Home Cage Behavior: The Home Cage Assay Advantages

This study utilized the Noldus PhenoTyper Home Cage Monitoring system (HCM) to assess the behavioral and cognitive changes of experimental closed-head mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Seventy-nine adult male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were subjected to either a sham procedure or closed-head mTBI using the weight-drop model. Seven days post-injury, separate cohorts of mice underwent either a non-cognitive or a cognitive home cage assessment, a treadmill fatigue test, or the Open Field Test. mTBI significantly influenced habituation behavior and circadian wheel-running activity. Notably, mTBI mice exhibited an increased frequency of visits to the running wheel, but each visit was shorter than those of controls. No significant differences between the groups in discrimination or reversal learning performance were observed. However, during the reversal learning stage, mTBI mice performed similarly to their initial discrimination learning levels, suggesting an abnormally faster rate of reversal learning. Home cage monitoring is a valuable tool for studying the subtle effects of mTBI, complementing traditional assays. The automated evaluation of habituation to novel stimuli (e.g., novel environment) could serve as a potentially sensitive tool for assessing mTBI-associated behavioral deficits.

Environmental enrichment: a systematic review on the effect of a changing spatial complexity on hippocampal neurogenesis and plasticity in rodents, with considerations for translation to urban and built environments for humans

Introduction

Hippocampal neurogenesis is critical for improving learning, memory, and spatial navigation. Inhabiting and navigating spatial complexity is key to stimulating adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in rodents because they share similar hippocampal neuroplasticity characteristics with humans. AHN in humans has recently been found to persist until the tenth decade of life, but it declines with aging and is influenced by environmental enrichment. This systematic review investigated the impact of spatial complexity on neurogenesis and hippocampal plasticity in rodents, and discussed the translatability of these findings to human interventions.

Methods

Comprehensive searches were conducted on three databases in English: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. All literature published until December 2023 was screened and assessed for eligibility. A total of 32 studies with original data were included, and the process is reported in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement and checklist.

Results

The studies evaluated various models of spatial complexity in rodents, including environmental enrichment, changes to in-cage elements, complex layouts, and navigational mazes featuring novelty and intermittent complexity. A regression equation was formulated to synthesize key factors influencing neurogenesis, such as duration, physical activity, frequency of changes, diversity of complexity, age, living space size, and temperature.

Conclusion

Findings underscore the cognitive benefits of spatial complexity interventions and inform future translational research from rodents to humans. Home-cage enrichment and models like the Hamlet complex maze and the Marlau cage offer insight into how architectural design and urban navigational complexity can impact neurogenesis in humans. In-space changing complexity, with and without physical activity, is effective for stimulating neurogenesis. While evidence on intermittent spatial complexity in humans is limited, data from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns provide preliminary evidence. Existing equations relating rodent and human ages may allow for the translation of enrichment protocol durations from rodents to humans.

Measuring the replicability of our own research

In the study of transgenic mouse models of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders, we use batteries of tests to measure deficits in behaviour and from the results of these tests, we make inferences about the mental states of the mice that we interpret as deficits in "learning", "memory", "anxiety", "depression", etc. This paper discusses the problems of determining whether a particular transgenic mouse is a valid mouse model of disease X, the problem of background strains, and the question of whether our behavioural tests are measuring what we say they are. The problem of the reliability of results is then discussed: are they replicable between labs and can we replicate our results in our own lab? This involves the study of intra- and inter- experimenter reliability. The variables that influence replicability and the importance of conducting a complete behavioural phenotype: sensory, motor, cognitive and social emotional behaviour are discussed. Then the thorny question of failure to replicate is examined: Is it a curse or a blessing? Finally, the role of failure in research and what it tells us about our research paradigms is examined.

Big data and its impact on the 3Rs: a home cage monitoring oriented review

Undisturbed home cage recording of mouse activity and behavior has received increasing attention in recent years. In parallel, several technologies have been developed in a bid to automate data collection and interpretation. Thanks to these expanding technologies, massive datasets can be recorded and saved in the long term, providing a wealth of information concerning animal wellbeing, clinical status, baseline activity, and subsequent deviations in case of experimental interventions. Such large datasets can also serve as a long-term reservoir of scientific data that can be reanalyzed and repurposed upon need. In this review, we present how the impact of Big Data deriving from home cage monitoring (HCM) data acquisition, particularly through Digital Ventilated Cages (DVCs), can support the application of the 3Rs by enhancing Refinement, Reduction, and even Replacement of research in animals.

Fractionated brain X-irradiation profoundly reduces hippocampal immature neuron numbers without affecting spontaneous behavior in mice

Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) is used to improve tumor control in patients with primary brain tumors, or brain metastasis from various primary tumors to improve tumor control. However, WBRT can lead to cognitive decline in patients. We assessed whether fractionated WBRT (fWBRT) affects spontaneous behavior of mice in automated home cages and cognition (spatial memory) using the Barnes maze. Male C57Bl/6j mice received bi-lateral fWBRT at a dosage of 4 Gy/day on 5 consecutive days. In line with previous reports, immunohistochemical analysis of doublecortin positive cells in the dentate gyrus showed a profound reduction in immature neurons 4 weeks after fWBRT. Surprisingly, spontaneous behavior as measured in automated home cages was not affected. Moreover, learning and memory measured with Barnes maze, was also not affected 4-6 weeks after fWBRT. At 10-11 weeks after fWBRT a significant difference in escape latency during the learning phase, but not in the probe test of the Barnes maze was observed. In conclusion, although we confirmed the serious adverse effect of fWBRT on neurogenesis 4 weeks after fWBRT, we did not find similar profound effects on spontaneous behavior in the automated home cage nor on learning abilities as measured by the Barnes maze. The relationship between the neurobiological effects of fWBRT and cognition seems more complex than often assumed and the choice of animal model, cognitive tasks, neurobiological parameters, and experimental set-up might be important factors in these types of experiments.

Appetitively motivated tasks in the IntelliCage reveal a higher motivational cost of spatial learning in male than female mice

The IntelliCage (IC) permits the assessment of the behavior and learning abilities of mice in a social home cage context. To overcome water deprivation as an aversive driver of learning, we developed protocols in which spatial learning is motivated appetitively by the preference of mice for sweetened over plain water. While plain water is available at all times, only correct task responses give access to sweetened water rewards. Under these conditions, C57BL/6J mice successfully mastered a corner preference task with the reversal and also learned a more difficult time-place task with reversal. However, the rate of responding to sweetened water decreased strongly with increasing task difficulty, indicating that learning challenges and reduced success in obtaining rewards decreased the motivation of the animals to seek sweetened water. While C57BL/6J mice of both sexes showed similar initial taste preferences and learned similarly well in simple learning tasks, the rate of responding to sweetened water and performance dropped more rapidly in male than in female mice in response to increasing learning challenges. Taken together, our data indicate that male mice can have a disadvantage relative to females in mastering difficult, appetitively motivated learning tasks, likely due to sex differences in value-based decision-making.

MouseVUER: video based open-source system for laboratory mouse home-cage monitoring

Video monitoring of mice in the home-cage reveals behavior profiles without the disruptions caused by specialized test setups and makes it possible to quantify changes in behavior patterns continually over long time frames. Several commercial home-cage monitoring systems are available with varying costs and capabilities; however there are currently no open-source systems for home-cage monitoring. We present an open-source system for top-down video monitoring of research mice in a slightly modified home-cage. The system is designed for integration with Allentown NexGen ventilated racks and allows unobstructed view of up to three mice, but can also be operated outside the rack. The system has an easy to duplicate and assemble home-cage design along with a video acquisition solution. The system utilizes a depth video camera, and we demonstrate the robustness of depth video for home-cage mice monitoring. For researchers without access to Allentown NexGen ventilated racks, we provide designs and assembly instructions for a standalone non-ventilated rack solution that holds three systems for more compact and efficient housing. We make all the design files, along with detailed assembly and installation instructions, available on the project webpage ( https://github.com/NIH-CIT-OIR-SPIS/MouseVUER ).

ReptiLearn: An automated home cage system for behavioral experiments in reptiles without human intervention

Understanding behavior and its evolutionary underpinnings is crucial for unraveling the complexities of brain function. Traditional approaches strive to reduce behavioral complexity by designing short-term, highly constrained behavioral tasks with dichotomous choices in which animals respond to defined external perturbation. In contrast, natural behaviors evolve over multiple time scales during which actions are selected through bidirectional interactions with the environment and without human intervention. Recent technological advancements have opened up new possibilities for experimental designs that more closely mirror natural behaviors by replacing stringent experimental control with accurate multidimensional behavioral analysis. However, these approaches have been tailored to fit only a small number of species. This specificity limits the experimental opportunities offered by species diversity. Further, it hampers comparative analyses that are essential for extracting overarching behavioral principles and for examining behavior from an evolutionary perspective. To address this limitation, we developed ReptiLearn-a versatile, low-cost, Python-based solution, optimized for conducting automated long-term experiments in the home cage of reptiles, without human intervention. In addition, this system offers unique features such as precise temperature measurement and control, live prey reward dispensers, engagement with touch screens, and remote control through a user-friendly web interface. Finally, ReptiLearn incorporates low-latency closed-loop feedback allowing bidirectional interactions between animals and their environments. Thus, ReptiLearn provides a comprehensive solution for researchers studying behavior in ectotherms and beyond, bridging the gap between constrained laboratory settings and natural behavior in nonconventional model systems. We demonstrate the capabilities of ReptiLearn by automatically training the lizard Pogona vitticeps on a complex spatial learning task requiring association learning, displaced reward learning, and reversal learning.

IntelliCage: the development and perspectives of a mouse- and user-friendly automated behavioral test system

IntelliCage for mice is a rodent home-cage equipped with four corner structures harboring symmetrical double panels for operant conditioning at each of the two sides, either by reward (access to water) or by aversion (non-painful stimuli: air-puffs, LED lights). Corner visits, nose-pokes and actual licks at bottle-nipples are recorded individually using subcutaneously implanted transponders for RFID identification of up to 16 adult mice housed in the same home-cage. This allows for recording individual in-cage activity of mice and applying reward/punishment operant conditioning schemes in corners using workflows designed on a versatile graphic user interface. IntelliCage development had four roots: (i) dissatisfaction with standard approaches for analyzing mouse behavior, including standardization and reproducibility issues, (ii) response to handling and housing animal welfare issues, (iii) the increasing number of mouse models had produced a high work burden on classic manual behavioral phenotyping of single mice. and (iv), studies of transponder-chipped mice in outdoor settings revealed clear genetic behavioral differences in mouse models corresponding to those observed by classic testing in the laboratory. The latter observations were important for the development of home-cage testing in social groups, because they contradicted the traditional belief that animals must be tested under social isolation to prevent disturbance by other group members. The use of IntelliCages reduced indeed the amount of classic testing remarkably, while its flexibility was proved in a wide range of applications worldwide including transcontinental parallel testing. Essentially, two lines of testing emerged: sophisticated analysis of spontaneous behavior in the IntelliCage for screening of new genetic models, and hypothesis testing in many fields of behavioral neuroscience. Upcoming developments of the IntelliCage aim at improved stimulus presentation in the learning corners and videotracking of social interactions within the IntelliCage. Its main advantages are (i) that mice live in social context and are not stressfully handled for experiments, (ii) that studies are not restricted in time and can run in absence of humans, (iii) that it increases reproducibility of behavioral phenotyping worldwide, and (iv) that the industrial standardization of the cage permits retrospective data analysis with new statistical tools even after many years.

Highly Accurate and Precise Determination of Mouse Mass Using Computer Vision

Changes in body mass are a key indicator of health and disease in humans and model organisms. Animal body mass is routinely monitored in husbandry and preclinical studies. In rodent studies, the current best method requires manually weighing the animal on a balance which has at least two consequences. First, direct handling of the animal induces stress and can have confounding effects on studies. Second, the acquired mass is static and not amenable to continuous assessment, and rapid mass changes can be missed. A noninvasive and continuous method of monitoring animal mass would have utility in multiple areas of biomedical research. Here, we test the feasibility of determining mouse body mass using video data. We combine computer vision methods with statistical modeling to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach. Our methods determine mouse mass with 4.8% error across highly genetically diverse mouse strains, with varied coat colors and mass. This error is low enough to replace manual weighing with image-based assessment in most mouse studies. We conclude that visual determination of rodent mass using video enables noninvasive and continuous monitoring and can improve animal welfare and preclinical studies.

How is Big Data reshaping preclinical aging research?

The exponential scientific and technological progress during the past 30 years has favored the comprehensive characterization of aging processes with their multivariate nature, leading to the advent of Big Data in preclinical aging research. Spanning from molecular omics to organism-level deep phenotyping, Big Data demands large computational resources for storage and analysis, as well as new analytical tools and conceptual frameworks to gain novel insights leading to discovery. Systems biology has emerged as a paradigm that utilizes Big Data to gain insightful information enabling a better understanding of living organisms, visualized as multilayered networks of interacting molecules, cells, tissues and organs at different spatiotemporal scales. In this framework, where aging, health and disease represent emergent states from an evolving dynamic complex system, context given by, for example, strain, sex and feeding times, becomes paramount for defining the biological trajectory of an organism. Using bioinformatics and artificial intelligence, the systems biology approach is leading to remarkable advances in our understanding of the underlying mechanism of aging biology and assisting in creative experimental study designs in animal models. Future in-depth knowledge acquisition will depend on the ability to fully integrate information from different spatiotemporal scales in organisms, which will probably require the adoption of theories and methods from the field of complex systems. Here we review state-of-the-art approaches in preclinical research, with a focus on rodent models, that are leading to conceptual and/or technical advances in leveraging Big Data to understand basic aging biology and its full translational potential.

Dual-Stream Spatiotemporal Networks with Feature Sharing for Monitoring Animals in the Home Cage

This paper presents a spatiotemporal deep learning approach for mouse behavioral classification in the home-cage. Using a series of dual-stream architectures with assorted modifications for optimal performance, we introduce a novel feature sharing approach that jointly processes the streams at regular intervals throughout the network. The dataset in focus is an annotated, publicly available dataset of a singly-housed mouse. We achieved even better classification accuracy by ensembling the best performing models; an Inception-based network and an attention-based network, both of which utilize this feature sharing attribute. Furthermore, we demonstrate through ablation studies that for all models, the feature sharing architectures consistently outperform the conventional dual-stream having standalone streams. In particular, the inception-based architectures showed higher feature sharing gains with their increase in accuracy anywhere between 6.59% and 15.19%. The best-performing models were also further evaluated on other mouse behavioral datasets.

Refinement of IntelliCage protocols for complex cognitive tasks through replacement of drinking restrictions by incentive-disincentive paradigms

The IntelliCage allows automated testing of cognitive abilities of mice in a social home cage environment without handling by human experimenters. Restricted water access in combination with protocols in which only correct responses give access to water is a reliable learning motivator for hippocampus-dependent tasks assessing spatial memory and executive function. However, water restriction may negatively impact on animal welfare, especially in poor learners. To better comply with the 3R principles, we previously tested protocols in which water was freely available but additional access to sweetened water could be obtained by learning a task rule. While this purely appetitive motivation worked for simple tasks, too many mice lost interest in the sweet reward during more difficult hippocampus-dependent tasks. In the present study, we tested a battery of increasingly difficult spatial tasks in which water was still available without learning the task rule, but rendered less attractive either by adding bitter tasting quinine or by increasing the amount of work to obtain it. As in previous protocols, learning of the task rule provided access to water sweetened with saccharin. The two approaches of dual motivation were tested in two cohorts of female C57BL/6 N mice. Compared to purely appetitive motivation, both novel protocols strongly improved task engagement and increased task performance. Importantly, neither of the added disincentives had an adverse impact on liquid consumption, health status or body weight of the animals. Our results show that it is possible to refine test protocols in the IntelliCage so that they challenge cognitive functions without restricting access to water.

A systematic review of the development and application of home cage monitoring in laboratory mice and rats

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, in biomedical animal research, laboratory rodents are individually examined in test apparatuses outside of their home cages at selected time points. However, the outcome of such tests can be influenced by various factors and valuable information may be missed when the animals are only monitored for short periods. These issues can be overcome by longitudinally monitoring mice and rats in their home cages. To shed light on the development of home cage monitoring (HCM) and the current state-of-the-art, a systematic review was carried out on 521 publications retrieved through PubMed and Web of Science.

RESULTS

Both the absolute (~ × 26) and relative (~ × 7) number of HCM-related publications increased from 1974 to 2020. There was a clear bias towards males and individually housed animals, but during the past decade (2011-2020), an increasing number of studies used both sexes and group housing. In most studies, animals were kept for short (up to 4 weeks) time periods in the HCM systems; intermediate time periods (4-12 weeks) increased in frequency in the years between 2011 and 2020. Before the 2000s, HCM techniques were predominantly applied for less than 12 h, while 24-h measurements have been more frequent since the 2000s. The systematic review demonstrated that manual monitoring is decreasing in relation to automatic techniques but still relevant. Until (and including) the 1990s, most techniques were applied manually but have been progressively replaced by automation since the 2000s. Independent of the year of publication, the main behavioral parameters measured were locomotor activity, feeding, and social behaviors; the main physiological parameters were heart rate and electrocardiography. External appearance-related parameters were rarely examined in the home cages. Due to technological progress and application of artificial intelligence, more refined and detailed behavioral parameters have been investigated in the home cage more recently.

CONCLUSIONS

Over the period covered in this study, techniques for HCM of mice and rats have improved considerably. This development is ongoing and further progress as well as validation of HCM systems will extend the applications to allow for continuous, longitudinal, non-invasive monitoring of an increasing range of parameters in group-housed small rodents in their home cages.

Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice

In animal-based research, welfare assessments are essential for ethical and legal reasons. However, accurate assessment of suffering in laboratory animals is often complicated by the multidimensional character of distress and pain and the associated affective states. The present study aimed to design and validate multidimensional composite measure schemes comprising behavioral and biochemical parameters based on a bioinformatics approach. Published data sets from induced and genetic mouse models of neurological and psychiatric disorders were subjected to a bioinformatics workflow for cross-model analyses. ROC analyses pointed to a model-specific discriminatory power of selected behavioral parameters. Principal component analyses confirmed that the composite measure schemes developed for adult or young mice provided relevant information with the level of group separation reflecting the expected severity levels. Finally, the validity of the composite measure schemes developed for adult and young mice was further confirmed by k-means-based clustering as a basis for severity classification. The classification systems allowed the allocation of individual animals to different severity levels and a direct comparison of animal groups and other models. In conclusion, the bioinformatics approach confirmed the suitability of the composite measure schemes for evidence-based comparative severity assessment in adult and young mice. In particular, we demonstrated that the composite measure schemes provide a basis for an individualized severity classification in control and experimental groups allowing direct comparison of severity levels across different induced or genetic models. An online tool (R package) is provided, allowing the application of the bioinformatics approach to severity assessment data sets regardless of the parameters or models used. This tool can also be used to validate refinement measures.

Optimization of overhead enclosure monitoring in juvenile male Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)

Overhead enclosure monitoring provides objective quantitative mobility measurements for animals undergoing open-field testing. Notably, protocols for testing optimization have been minimally established for the guinea pig. It is unknown whether (a) repeated exposure, (b) time-of-day, or (c) length of testing duration influence outcome parameters. We hypothesized that guinea pigs would display decreased activity following repeated exposure to the open field; heightened activity during the earliest testing period; and that 10 min would be adequate for data collection. The study was conducted in two separate phases to distinguish between enclosure habituation and time-of-day effects, respectively. Two cohorts of male Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs were allowed voluntary movement in an open-field enclosure for 14 min to quantify mobility outcomes, including total distance traveled, total time mobile, average speed while mobile, and total time spent in the shelter. For both phases, testing occurred at four different times of day, and overhead monitoring software was programmed to divide the total testing duration into 2-min bins. Habituation phase results showed time mobile and distance traveled were influenced significantly by repeat exposure, as animals were most active during the first testing event. Time-of-day phase animals spent significantly more time mobile during the earliest testing period. Interestingly, significant differences were observed across 2-min bins for the time-of-day phase but not during the habituation phase. Specifically, progressively decreased ambulatory activity was observed as testing duration increased. Thus, habituation and time-of-day should be accounted for when possible. Finally, a trial period greater than 10 min may not yield additional data.

ContrastivePose: A contrastive learning approach for self-supervised feature engineering for pose estimation and behavorial classification of interacting animals

In recent years, supervised machine learning models trained on videos of animals with pose estimation data and behavior labels have been used for automated behavior classification. Applications include, for example, automated detection of neurological diseases in animal models. However, we identify two potential problems of such supervised learning approach. First, such models require a large amount of labeled data but the labeling of behaviors frame by frame is a laborious manual process that is not easily scalable. Second, such methods rely on handcrafted features obtained from pose estimation data that are usually designed empirically. In this paper, we propose to overcome these two problems using contrastive learning for self-supervised feature engineering on pose estimation data. Our approach allows the use of unlabeled videos to learn feature representations and reduce the need for handcrafting of higher-level features from pose positions. We show that this approach to feature representation can achieve better classification performance compared to handcrafted features alone, and that the performance improvement is due to contrastive learning on unlabeled data rather than the neural network architecture. The method has the potential to reduce the bottleneck of scarce labeled videos for training and improve performance of supervised behavioral classification models for the study of interaction behaviors in animals.

Activity in Group-Housed Home Cages of Mice as a Novel Preclinical Biomarker in Oncology Studies

BACKGROUND

Improving experimental conditions in preclinical animal research is a major challenge, both scientifically and ethically. Automated digital ventilated cages (DVC®) offer the advantage of continuous monitoring of animal activity in their home-cage. The potential utility of this technology remains understudied and deserves investigation in the field of oncology.

METHODS

Using the DVC® platform, we sought to determine if the continuous assessment of locomotor activity of mice in their home cages can serve as useful digital readout in the monitoring of animals treated with the reference oncology compounds cisplatin and cyclophosphamide. SCID mice of 14 weeks of age were housed in DVC® cages in groups of four and followed with standard and digital examination before and after treatment over a 17-day total period.

RESULTS

DVC® detected statistically significant effects of cisplatin on the activity of mice in the short and long term, as well as trends for cyclophosphamide. The activity differences between the vehicle- and chemotherapy-treated groups were especially marked during the nighttime, a period when animals are most active and staff are generally not available for regular checks. Standard clinical parameters, such as body weight change and clinical assessment during the day, provided additional and complementary information.

CONCLUSION

The DVC® technology enabled the home cage monitoring of mice and non-invasive detection of animal activity disturbances. It can easily be integrated into a multimodal monitoring approach to better capture the different effects of oncology drugs on anti-tumor efficacy, toxicity, and safety and improve translation to clinical studies.

Being friendly: paced mating for the study of physiological, behavioral, and neuroplastic changes induced by sexual behavior in females

Paced mating in rats is an experimental condition that allows the evaluation of sexual behavior in a way that closely resembles what occurs in seminatural and natural conditions enabling the female to control the rate of the sexual interaction. In conventional non-paced mating tests, females cannot escape from male approaches, which may lead to an unrewarding overstimulation. Paced mating is an alternative laboratory procedure that improves animal welfare and has a higher ethological relevance. The use of this procedure contributed to the identification of physiological and behavioral factors that favor reproduction. Paced mating includes motivational and behavioral components differentiating quantitative and qualitative characteristics that are critical for the induction of the rewarding properties of mating. These positive consequences ensure that the behavior will be repeated, favoring the species' survival. Sexual reward is an immediate consequence of paced mating, mediated mainly by the endogenous opioid system. Paced mating also induces long-lasting neuroplastic changes, including gene expression, synthesis of proteins, and neurogenesis in sex-relevant brain areas. The interest in paced mating is growing since the complexity of its elements and consequences at different levels in a laboratory setting resembles what occurs in natural conditions. In this review, we analyze the classic studies and recent publications demonstrating the advantages of using paced mating to evaluate different aspects of sexual behavior in females.

Environmental enrichment improves hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in female C57BL/6 mice in novel IntelliCage sweet reward-based behavioral tests

The IntelliCage is an automated home-cage system that allows researchers to investigate the spontaneous behavior and learning abilities of group-housed mice. The IntelliCage enables us to increase the standardization and reproducibility of behavioral outcomes by the omission of experimenter-mouse interactions. Although the IntelliCage provides a less stressful environment for animals, standard IntelliCage protocols use controlled water access as the motivational driver for learning. To overcome possible water restrictions in slow learners, we developed a series of novel protocols based on appetitive learning, in which mice had permanent access to plain water but were additionally rewarded with sweetened water upon solving the task. C57BL/6NCrl female mice were used to assess the efficacy of these sweet reward-based protocols in a series of learning tasks. Compared to control mice tested with standard protocols, mice motivated with a sweet reward did equal to or better in operant performance and place learning tasks. Learning of temporal rules was slower than that in controls. When faced with a combined temporal x spatial working memory task, sweet-rewarded mice learned little and chose plain water. In a second set of experiments, the impact of environmental enrichment on appetitive learning was tested. Mice kept under enriched environment (EE) or standard housing (SH) conditions prior to the IntelliCage experiments performed similarly in the sweet-rewarded place learning task. EE mice performed better in the hippocampus-dependent spatial working memory task. The improved performance of EE mice in the hippocampus-dependent spatial working memory task might be explained by the observed larger volume of their mossy fibers. Our results confirm that environmental enrichment increases complex spatial learning abilities and leads to long-lasting morphological changes in the hippocampus. Furthermore, simple standard IntelliCage protocols could easily be adapted to sweet rewards, which improve animal welfare by removing the possibility of water restriction. However, complex behavioral tasks motivated by sweet reward-based learning need further adjustments to reach the same efficacy as standard protocols.

Clinicopathologic Dissociation: Robust Lafora Body Accumulation in Malin KO Mice Without Observable Changes in Home-cage Behavior

Lafora Disease (LD) is a syndrome of progressive myoclonic epilepsy and cumulative neurocognitive deterioration caused by recessively inherited genetic lesions of EPM2A (laforin) or NHLRC1 (malin). Neuropsychiatric symptomatology in LD is thought to be directly downstream of neuronal and astrocytic polyglucosan aggregates, termed Lafora bodies (LBs), which faithfully accumulate in an age-dependent manner in all mouse models of LD. In this study, we applied home-cage monitoring to examine the extent of neurobehavioral deterioration in a model of malin-deficient LD, as a means to identify robust preclinical endpoints that may guide the selection of novel genetic treatments. At 6 weeks, ~6-7 months and ~12 months of age, malin deficient mice ("KO") and wild type (WT) littermates underwent a standardized home-cage behavioral assessment designed to non-obtrusively appraise features of rest/arousal, consumptive behaviors, risk aversion and voluntary wheel-running. At all timepoints, and over a range of metrics that we report transparently, WT and KO mice were essentially indistinguishable. In contrast, within WT mice compared across timepoints, we identified age-related nocturnal hypoactivity, diminished sucrose preference and reduced wheel-running. Neuropathological examinations in subsets of the same mice revealed expected age dependent LB accumulation, gliosis and microglial activation in cortical and subcortical brain regions. At 12 months of age, despite the burden of neocortical LBs, we did not identify spontaneous seizures during an electroencephalographic (EEG) survey, and KO and WT mice exhibited similar spectral EEG features. Using an in vitro assay of neocortical function, paroxysmal increases in network activity (UP states) in KO slices were more prolonged at 3 and 6 months of age, but were similar to WT at 12 months. KO mice displayed a distinct response to pentylenetetrazole, with a greater incidence of clonic seizures and a more pronounced post-ictal suppression of movement, feeding and drinking behavior. Together, these results highlight a stark clinicopathologic dissociation in a mouse model of LD, where LBs accrue substantially without clinically meaningful changes in overall wellbeing. Our findings allude to a delay between LB accumulation and neurobehavioral decline: one that may provide a window for treatment, and whose precise duration may be difficult to ascertain within the typical lifespan of a laboratory mouse.

Development of an IntelliCage-based cognitive bias test for mice

The cognitive bias test is used to measure the emotional state of animals with regard to future expectations. Thus, the test offers a unique possibility to assess animal welfare with regard to housing and testing conditions of laboratory animals. So far, however, performing such a test is time-consuming and requires the presence of an experimenter. Therefore, we developed an automated and home-cage based cognitive bias test based on the IntelliCage system. We present several developmental steps to improve the experimental design leading to a successful measurement of cognitive bias in group-housed female C57BL/6J mice. The automated and home-cage based test design allows to obtain individual data from group-housed mice, to test the mice in their familiar environment, and during their active phase. By connecting the test-cage to the home-cage via a gating system, the mice participated in the test on a self-chosen schedule, indicating high motivation to actively participate in the experiment. We propose that this should have a positive effect on the animals themselves as well as on the data. Unexpectedly, the mice showed an optimistic cognitive bias after enrichment was removed and additional restraining. An optimistic expectation of the future as a consequence of worsening environmental conditions, however, can also be interpreted as an active coping strategy in which a potential profit is sought to be maximized through a higher willingness to take risks.

Development of an IntelliCage-based cognitive bias test for mice

The cognitive bias test is used to measure the emotional state of animals with regard to future expectations. Thus, the test offers a unique possibility to assess animal welfare with regard to housing and testing conditions of laboratory animals. So far, however, performing such a test is time-consuming and requires the presence of an experimenter. Therefore, we developed an automated and home-cage based cognitive bias test based on the IntelliCage system. We present several developmental steps to improve the experimental design leading to a successful measurement of cognitive bias in group-housed female C57BL/6J mice. The automated and home-cage based test design allows to obtain individual data from group-housed mice, to test the mice in their familiar environment, and during their active phase. By connecting the test-cage to the home-cage via a gating system, the mice participated in the test on a self-chosen schedule, indicating high motivation to actively participate in the experiment. We propose that this should have a positive effect on the animals themselves as well as on the data. Unexpectedly, the mice showed an optimistic cognitive bias after enrichment was removed and additional restraining. An optimistic expectation of the future as a consequence of worsening environmental conditions, however, can also be interpreted as an active coping strategy in which a potential profit is sought to be maximized through a higher willingness to take risks.

PiE: an open-source pipeline for home cage behavioral analysis

Over the last two decades a growing number of neuroscience labs are conducting behavioral assays in rodents. The equipment used to collect this behavioral data must effectively limit environmental and experimenter disruptions, to avoid confounding behavior data. Proprietary behavior boxes are expensive, offer limited compatible sensors, and constrain analysis with closed-source hardware and software. Here, we introduce PiE, an open-source, end-to-end, user-configurable, scalable, and inexpensive behavior assay system. The PiE system includes the custom-built behavior box to hold a home cage, as well as software enabling continuous video recording and individual behavior box environmental control. To limit experimental disruptions, the PiE system allows the control and monitoring of all aspects of a behavioral experiment using a remote web browser, including real-time video feeds. To allow experiments to scale up, the PiE system provides a web interface where any number of boxes can be controlled, and video data easily synchronized to a remote location. For the scoring of behavior video data, the PiE system includes a standalone desktop application that streamlines the blinded manual scoring of large datasets with a focus on quality control and assay flexibility. The PiE system is ideal for all types of behavior assays in which video is recorded. Users are free to use individual components of this setup independently, or to use the entire pipeline from data collection to analysis. Alpha testers have included scientists without prior coding experience. An example pipeline is demonstrated with the PiE system enabling the user to record home cage maternal behavior assays, synchronize the resulting data, conduct blinded scoring, and import the data into R for data visualization and analysis.

Galactic Cosmic Irradiation Alters Acute and Delayed Species-Typical Behavior in Male and Female Mice

Exposure to space galactic cosmic radiation is a principal consideration for deep space missions. While the effects of space irradiation on the nervous system are not fully known, studies in animal models have shown that exposure to ionizing radiation can cause neuronal damage and lead to downstream cognitive and behavioral deficits. Cognitive health implications put humans and missions at risk, and with the upcoming Artemis missions in which female crew will play a major role, advance critical analysis of the neurological and performance responses of male and female rodents to space radiation is vital. Here, we tested the hypothesis that simulated Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCRSim) exposure disrupts species-typical behavior in mice, including burrowing, rearing, grooming, and nest-building that depend upon hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortex circuitry. Behavior comprises a remarkably well-integrated representation of the biology of the whole animal that informs overall neural and physiological status, revealing functional impairment. We conducted a systematic dose-response analysis of mature (6-month-old) male and female mice exposed to either 5, 15, or 50 cGy 5-ion GCRSim (H, Si, He, O, Fe) at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Behavioral performance was evaluated at 72 h (acute) and 91-days (delayed) postradiation exposure. Specifically, species-typical behavior patterns comprising burrowing, rearing, and grooming as well as nest building were analyzed. A Neuroscore test battery (spontaneous activity, proprioception, vibrissae touch, limb symmetry, lateral turning, forelimb outstretching, and climbing) was performed at the acute timepoint to investigate early sensorimotor deficits postirradiation exposure. Nest construction, a measure of neurological and organizational function in rodents, was evaluated using a five-stage Likert scale 'Deacon' score that ranged from 1 (a low score where the Nestlet is untouched) to 5 (a high score where the Nestlet is completely shredded and shaped into a nest). Differential acute responses were observed in females relative to males with respect to species-typical behavior following 15 cGy exposure while delayed responses were observed in female grooming following 50 cGy exposure. Significant sex differences were observed at both timepoints in nest building. No deficits in sensorimotor behavior were observed via the Neuroscore. This study revealed subtle, sexually dimorphic GCRSim exposure effects on mouse behavior. Our analysis provides a clearer understanding of GCR dose effects on species typical, sensorimotor and organizational behaviors at acute and delayed timeframes postirradiation, thereby setting the stage for the identification of underlying cellular and molecular events.

Socially Integrated Polysubstance (SIP) system: An open-source solution for continuous monitoring of polysubstance fluid intake in group housed mice

Despite impressive results from neuroscience research using rodent models, there is a paucity of successful translation from preclinical findings to effective pharmacological interventions for treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) in humans. One potential reason for lack of translation from animal models is difficulty in accurately replicating the lived experience of people who use drugs. Aspects of substance use in humans that are often not modeled in animal research include but are not limited to 1) voluntary timing and frequency of substance intake, 2) social environment during substance use, and 3) access to multiple substances and multiple concentrations of each substance. Critically, existing commercial equipment that allows for social housing and voluntary polysubstance use (e.g., home cage monitoring system) is prohibitively expensive and no open-source solutions exist. With these goals in mind, here we detail development of the Socially Integrated Polysubstance (SIP) system, an open-source and lower cost solution that allows for group housed rodents to self-administer multiple substances with continuous monitoring and measurement. In our current setup, each SIP cage contains four drinking stations, and each station is equipped with a RFID sensor and sipper tube connected to a unique fluid reservoir. Using this system, we can track which animal (implanted with unique RFID transponder) visits which drinking location and the amount they drink during each visit (in 20 ul increments). Using four flavors of Kool-Aid, here we demonstrate that the SIP system is reliable and accurate with high temporal resolution for long term monitoring of substance intake and behavior tracking in a social environment. The SIP cage system is a first step towards designing an accessible and flexible rodent model of substance use that more closely resembles the experience of people who use drugs.

The Preventive Effect of Exercise and Oral Branched-Chain Amino Acid Supplementation on Obesity-Induced Brain Changes in Ldlr−/−.Leiden Mice

Exercise and dietary interventions are promising approaches to tackle obesity and its obesogenic effects on the brain. We investigated the impact of exercise and possible synergistic effects of exercise and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) supplementation on the brain and behavior in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese Ldlr−/−.Leiden mice. Baseline measurements were performed in chow-fed Ldlr−/−.Leiden mice to assess metabolic risk factors, cognition, and brain structure using magnetic resonance imaging. Thereafter, a subgroup was sacrificed, serving as a healthy reference. The remaining mice were fed an HFD and divided into three groups: (i) no exercise, (ii) exercise, or (iii) exercise and dietary BCAA. Mice were followed for 6 months and aforementioned tests were repeated. We found that exercise alone changed cerebral blood flow, attenuated white matter loss, and reduced neuroinflammation compared to non-exercising HFD-fed mice. Contrarily, no favorable effects of exercise on the brain were found in combination with BCAA, and neuroinflammation was increased. However, cognition was slightly improved in exercising mice on BCAA. Moreover, BCAA and exercise increased the percentage of epididymal white adipose tissue and muscle weight, decreased body weight and fasting insulin levels, improved the circadian rhythm, and transiently improved grip strength. In conclusion, BCAA should be supplemented with caution, although beneficial effects on metabolism, behavior, and cognition were observed.

Longitudinal home-cage automated assessment of climbing behavior shows sexual dimorphism and aging-related decrease in C57BL/6J healthy mice and allows early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington's disease

Monitoring the activity of mice within their home cage is proving to be a powerful tool for revealing subtle and early-onset phenotypes in mouse models. Video-tracking, in particular, lends itself to automated machine-learning technologies that have the potential to improve the manual annotations carried out by humans. This type of recording and analysis is particularly powerful in objective phenotyping, monitoring behaviors with no experimenter intervention. Automated home-cage testing allows the recording of non-evoked voluntary behaviors, which do not require any contact with the animal or exposure to specialist equipment. By avoiding stress deriving from handling, this approach, on the one hand, increases the welfare of experimental animals and, on the other hand, increases the reliability of results excluding confounding effects of stress on behavior. In this study, we show that the monitoring of climbing on the wire cage lid of a standard individually ventilated cage (IVC) yields reproducible data reflecting complex phenotypes of individual mouse inbred strains and of a widely used model of neurodegeneration, the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD). Measurements in the home-cage environment allowed for the collection of comprehensive motor activity data, which revealed sexual dimorphism, daily biphasic changes, and aging-related decrease in healthy C57BL/6J mice. Furthermore, home-cage recording of climbing allowed early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q HD mouse model. Integrating cage-floor activity with cage-lid activity (climbing) has the potential to greatly enhance the characterization of mouse strains, detecting early and subtle signs of disease and increasing reproducibility in preclinical studies.

A paradigm shift in translational psychiatry through rodent neuroethology

Mental disorders are a significant cause of disability worldwide. They profoundly affect individuals' well-being and impose a substantial financial burden on societies and governments. However, despite decades of extensive research, the effectiveness of current therapeutics for mental disorders is often not satisfactory or well tolerated by the patient. Moreover, most novel therapeutic candidates fail in clinical testing during the most expensive phases (II and III), which results in the withdrawal of pharma companies from investing in the field. It also brings into question the effectiveness of using animal models in preclinical studies to discover new therapeutic agents and predict their potential for treating mental illnesses in humans. Here, we focus on rodents as animal models and propose that they are essential for preclinical investigations of candidate therapeutic agents' mechanisms of action and for testing their safety and efficiency. Nevertheless, we argue that there is a need for a paradigm shift in the methodologies used to measure animal behavior in laboratory settings. Specifically, behavioral readouts obtained from short, highly controlled tests in impoverished environments and social contexts as proxies for complex human behavioral disorders might be of limited face validity. Conversely, animal models that are monitored in more naturalistic environments over long periods display complex and ethologically relevant behaviors that reflect evolutionarily conserved endophenotypes of translational value. We present how semi-natural setups in which groups of mice are individually tagged, and video recorded continuously can be attainable and affordable. Moreover, novel open-source machine-learning techniques for pose estimation enable continuous and automatic tracking of individual body parts in groups of rodents over long periods. The trajectories of each individual animal can further be subjected to supervised machine learning algorithms for automatic detection of specific behaviors (e.g., chasing, biting, or fleeing) or unsupervised automatic detection of behavioral motifs (e.g., stereotypical movements that might be harder to name or label manually). Compared to studies of animals in the wild, semi-natural environments are more compatible with neural and genetic manipulation techniques. As such, they can be used to study the neurobiological mechanisms underlying naturalistic behavior. Hence, we suggest that such a paradigm possesses the best out of classical ethology and the reductive behaviorist approach and may provide a breakthrough in discovering new efficient therapies for mental illnesses.

Determining the value of preferred goods based on consumer demand in a home-cage based test for mice

From the preference of one good over another, the strength of the preference cannot automatically be inferred. While money is the common denominator to assess the value of goods in humans, it appears difficult at first glance to put a price tag on the decisions of laboratory animals. Here we used consumer demand tests to measure how much work female mice expend to obtain access to different liquids. The mice could each choose between two liquids, one of which was free. The amount of work required to access the other liquid, by contrast, increased daily. In this way, the value of the liquid can be determined from a mouse's microeconomic perspective. The unique feature is that our test was carried out in a home-cage based setup. The mice lived in a group but could individually access the test-cage, which was connected to the home-cage via a gate. Thereby the mice were able to perform their task undisturbed by group members and on a self-chosen schedule with minimal influence by the experimenter. Our results show that the maximum number of nosepokes depends on the liquids presented. Mice worked incredibly hard for access to water while a bitter-tasting solution was offered for free whereas they made less nosepokes for sweetened liquids while water was offered for free. The results demonstrate that it is possible to perform automated and home-cage based consumer demand tests in order to ask the mice not only what they like best but also how strong their preference is.

Introducing a depression-like syndrome for translational neuropsychiatry: a plea for taxonomical validity and improved comparability between humans and mice

Depressive disorders are the most burdensome psychiatric disorders worldwide. Although huge efforts have been made to advance treatment, outcomes remain unsatisfactory. Many factors contribute to this gridlock including suboptimal animal models. Especially limited study comparability and replicability due to imprecise terminology concerning depressive-like states are major problems. To overcome these issues, new approaches are needed. Here, we introduce a taxonomical concept for modelling depression in laboratory mice, which we call depression-like syndrome (DLS). It hinges on growing evidence suggesting that mice possess advanced socioemotional abilities and can display non-random symptom patterns indicative of an evolutionary conserved disorder-like phenotype. The DLS approach uses a combined heuristic method based on clinical depression criteria and the Research Domain Criteria to provide a biobehavioural reference syndrome for preclinical rodent models of depression. The DLS criteria are based on available, species-specific evidence and are as follows: (I) minimum duration of phenotype, (II) significant sociofunctional impairment, (III) core biological features, (IV) necessary depressive-like symptoms. To assess DLS presence and severity, we have designed an algorithm to ensure statistical and biological relevance of findings. The algorithm uses a minimum combined threshold for statistical significance and effect size (p value ≤ 0.05 plus moderate effect size) for each DLS criterion. Taken together, the DLS is a novel, biologically founded, and species-specific minimum threshold approach. Its long-term objective is to gradually develop into an inter-model validation standard and microframework to improve phenotyping methodology in translational research.

Infrared thermography for non-invasive measurement of social inequality aversion in rodents and potential usefulness for future animal-friendly studies

Infrared thermography is a method that detects thermal radiation energy and can measure the body surface temperature of animals from a distance. While rectal temperature has traditionally been used to measure animals' core temperature, thermal imaging can avoid the stress and potential rise of body temperature deriving from handling of the animals. Additionally, being non-invasive and contactless, thermal imaging allows free movement of the animals. The validity of this technique as a psychophysiological method has been proven in a series of stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) studies of mice under social inequality conditions. Restraint in a holder elicits SIH in mice. A restrained mouse surrounded by freely moving cage mates displays increased SIH suggesting that social inequality enhances the stress. Social inequality can be examined also in unrestrained mice, in particular through unequal distribution of food. In this protocol, a food-deprived mouse is given a small piece of cheese, while its cage mate is given a large piece of cheese. This inequity causes SIH, suggesting social inequality aversion in mice. Thus, social inequality in different situations similarly increased SIH. Importantly, in future studies infrared thermography could also be used to evaluate emotional arousal states different from stress (for example to assess reactivity to rewards or in social and sexual preference tests). Moreover, the technique could be used to investigate also cognitive arousal induced by novelty. Indeed, infrared thermography could be a particularly useful tool for animal-friendly studies of cognition and emotion in rodents.

Excessive rest time during active phase is reliably detected in a mouse model of myotonic dystrophy type 1 using home cage monitoring

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a dominantly inherited neuromuscular disease caused by the abnormal expansion of CTG-repeats in the 3'-untranslated region of the Dystrophia Myotonica Protein Kinase (DMPK) gene, characterized by multisystemic symptoms including muscle weakness, myotonia, cardio-respiratory problems, hypersomnia, cognitive dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities. Sleep-related disturbances are among the most reported symptoms that negatively affect the quality of life of patients and that are present in early and adult-onset forms of the disease. DMSXL mice carry a mutated human DMPK transgene containing >1,000 CTGrepeats, modeling an early onset, severe form of DM1. They exhibit a pathologic neuromuscular phenotype and also synaptic dysfunction resulting in neurological and behavioral deficits similar to those observed in patients. Additionally, they are underweight with a very high mortality within the first month after birth presenting several welfare issues. To specifically explore sleep/rest-related behaviors of this frail DM1 mouse model we used an automated home cage-based system that allows 24/7 monitoring of their activity non-invasively. We tested male and female DMSXL mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates in Digital Ventilated Cages (DVCR) assessing activity and rest parameters on day and night for 5 weeks. We demonstrated that DMSXL mice show reduced activity and regularity disruption index (RDI), higher percentage of zero activity per each hour and longer periods of rest during the active phase compared to WT. This novel rest-related phenotype in DMSXL mice, assessed unobtrusively, could be valuable to further explore mechanisms and potential therapeutic interventions to alleviate the very common symptom of excessive daytime sleepiness in DM1 patients.

The importance of a multidimensional approach to the preclinical study of major depressive disorder and apathy

Both the neuropsychiatric syndrome of apathy and major depressive disorder comprise a heterogenous cluster of symptoms which span multiple behavioural domains. Despite this heterogeneity, there is a tendency in the preclinical literature to conclude a MDD or apathy-like phenotype from a single dimensional behavioural task used in isolation, which may lead to inaccurate phenotypic interpretation. This is significant, as apathy and major depressive disorder are clinically distinct with different underlying mechanisms and treatment approaches. At the clinical level, apathy and major depressive disorder can be dissociated in the negative valence (loss) domain of the Research Domain Criteria. Symptoms of MDD in the negative valence (loss) domain can include an exaggerated response to emotionally salient stimuli and low mood, while in contrast apathy is characterised by an emotionally blunted state. In this article, we highlight how using a single dimensional approach can limit psychiatric model interpretation. We discuss how integrating behavioural findings from both the positive and negative (loss) valence domains of the Research Domain Criteria can benefit interpretation of findings. We focus particularly on behaviours relating to the negative valence (loss) domain, which may be used to distinguish between apathy and major depressive disorder at the preclinical level. Finally, we consider how future approaches using home cage monitoring may offer a new opportunity to detect distinct behavioural profiles and benefit the overall translatability of findings.

A dynamic concept of animal welfare: The role of appetitive and adverse internal and external factors and the animal’s ability to adapt to them

Animal welfare is a multifaceted issue that can be approached from different viewpoints, depending on human interests, ethical assumptions, and culture. To properly assess, safeguard and promote animal welfare, concepts are needed to serve as guidelines in any context the animal is kept in. Several different welfare concepts have been developed during the last half decade. The Five Freedoms concept has provided the basis for developing animal welfare assessment to date, and the Five Domains concept has guided those responsible for safeguarding animal welfare, while the Quality of Life concept focuses on how the individual perceives its own welfare state. This study proposes a modified and extended version of an earlier animal welfare concept - the Dynamic Animal Welfare Concept (DAWCon). Based on the adaptability of the animal, and taking the importance of positive emotional states and the dynamic nature of animal welfare into account, an individual animal is likely in a positive welfare state when it is mentally and physically capable and possesses the ability and opportunity to react adequately to sporadic or lasting appetitive and adverse internal and external stimuli, events, and conditions. Adequate reactions are elements of an animal’s normal behavior. They allow the animal to cope with and adapt to the demands of the (prevailing) environmental circumstances, enabling it to reach a state that it perceives as positive, i.e., that evokes positive emotions. This paper describes the role of internal as well as external factors in influencing welfare, each of which exerts their effects in a sporadic or lasting manner. Behavior is highlighted as a crucial read-out parameter. As most animals under human care are selected for certain traits that may affect their behavioral repertoire it is crucial to have thorough ethograms, i.e., a catalogue of specific behaviors of the species/strain/breed under study. DAWCon highlights aspects that need to be addressed when assessing welfare and may stimulate future research questions.

Phenotyping Young GluA1 Deficient Mice – A Behavioral Characterization in a Genetic Loss-of-Function Model

Alterations of glutamatergic neurotransmission have been implicated in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Mice lacking the GluA1 AMPA receptor subunit, encoded by the Gria1 gene, display multiple phenotypical features associated with glutamatergic dysfunction. While the phenotype of adult GluA1 deficient (Gria1^–/–) mice has been studied comprehensively, there are relevant gaps in knowledge about the course and the onset of behavioral alterations in the Gria1 knockout mouse model during post-weaning development. Based on former investigations in young wild-type mice, we exposed female and male adolescent Gria1^–/– mice to a behavioral home-cage based testing battery designed for the purpose of severity assessment. Data obtained from mice with a constitutive loss of GluA1 were compared with those from wild-type littermates. We identified several genotype-dependent behavioral alterations in young Gria1^–/– mice. While the preference for sweetness was not affected by genotype during adolescence, Gria1^–/– mice displayed limited burrowing performance, and reached lower nest complexity scores. Analysis of home-cage based voluntary wheel running performance failed to confirm genotype-dependent differences. In contrast, when exposed to the open field test, Gria1^–/– mice showed pronounced hyperlocomotion in early and late adolescence, and female Gria1^–/– mice exhibited thigmotaxis when prepubescent. We found increased corticosterone metabolite levels in fecal samples of adolescent Gria1^–/– mice with females exhibiting increased adrenocortical activity already in prepubescence. Considering the course of behavioral modifications in early and late adolescence, the results do not support a persistent level of distress associated with GluA1 deficiency in the line. In contrast, the laboratory-specific readouts indicate transient, mild impairments of behavioral patterns relevant to animal welfare, and suggest a mild overall burden of the line.

Protocol for non-invasive assessment of spontaneous movements of group-housed animals using remote video monitoring

Frequent monitoring of laboratory animals is critical for ensuring animal welfare and experimental data collection. To minimize the adverse and confounding effects caused by current monitoring protocols and human presence, we developed a low-cost, non-invasive, remotely accessible, extensible infrared video monitoring system. This protocol describes the construction and operation of the system, followed by applying deep-learning neural networks to track group-housed, unmarked mice for objective behavioral quantification. This system can be adapted to a variety of home-cage environments and species.

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Secure, low-cost, non-invasive, remote infrared video monitoring of animals

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Tracks group-housed, unmarked mice to quantify behavior and assess drug efficacy

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Extensible and requires no advanced technological or programming skills

Cross-translational models of late-onset cognitive sequelae and their treatment in pediatric brain tumor survivors

Pediatric brain tumor treatments have a high success rate, but survivors are at risk of cognitive sequelae that impact long-term quality of life. We summarize recent clinical and animal model research addressing pathogenesis or evaluating candidate interventions for treatment-induced cognitive sequelae. Assayed interventions encompass a broad range of approaches, including modifications to radiotherapy, modulation of immune response, prevention of treatment-induced cell loss or promotion of cell renewal, manipulation of neuronal signaling, and lifestyle/environmental adjustments. We further emphasize the potential of neuroimaging as a key component of cross-translation to contextualize laboratory research within broader clinical findings. This cross-translational approach has the potential to accelerate discovery to improve pediatric cancer survivors' long-term quality of life.

Challenges of a small world analysis for the continuous monitoring of behavior in mice

Documenting a mouse's "real world" behavior in the "small world" of a laboratory cage with continuous video recordings offers insights into phenotypical expression of mouse genotypes, development and aging, and neurological disease. Nevertheless, there are challenges in the design of a small world, the behavior selected for analysis, and the form of the analysis used. Here we offer insights into small world analyses by describing how acute behavioral procedures can guide continuous behavioral methodology. We show how algorithms can identify behavioral acts including walking and rearing, circadian patterns of action including sleep duration and waking activity, and the organization of patterns of movement into home base activity and excursions, and how they are altered with aging. We additionally describe how specific tests can be incorporated within a mouse's living arrangement. We emphasize how machine learning can condense and organize continuous activity that extends over extended periods of time.

Advances in Animal Models and Cutting-Edge Research in Alternatives: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on 3Rs Research and Progress, Hyderabad, 2021

The fact that animal models fail to replicate human disease faithfully is now being widely accepted by researchers across the globe. As a result, they are exploring the use of alternatives to animal models. The time has come to refine our experimental practices, reduce the numbers and eventually replace the animals used in research with human-derived and human-relevant 3-D disease models. Oncoseek Bio-Acasta Health, which is an innovative biotechnology start-up company based in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam, India, organises an annual International Conference on 3Rs Research and Progress. In 2021, this conference was on 'Advances in Research Animal Models and Cutting-Edge Research in Alternatives'. This annual conference is a platform that brings together eminent scientists and researchers from various parts of the world, to share recent advances from their research in the field of alternatives to animals including new approach methodologies, and to promote practices to help refine animal experiments where alternatives are not available. This report presents the proceedings of the conference, which was held in hybrid mode (i.e. virtual and in-person) in November 2021.

Measuring Locomotor Activity and Behavioral Aspects of Rodents Living in the Home-Cage

Automatization and technological advances have led to a larger number of methods and systems to monitor and measure locomotor activity and more specific behavior of a wide variety of animal species in various environmental conditions in laboratory settings. In rodents, the majority of these systems require the animals to be temporarily taken away from their home-cage into separate observation cage environments which requires manual handling and consequently evokes distress for the animal and may alter behavioral responses. An automated high-throughput approach can overcome this problem. Therefore, this review describes existing automated methods and technologies which enable the measurement of locomotor activity and behavioral aspects of rodents in their most meaningful and stress-free laboratory environment: the home-cage. In line with the Directive 2010/63/EU and the 3R principles (replacement, reduction, refinement), this review furthermore assesses their suitability and potential for group-housed conditions as a refinement strategy, highlighting their current technological and practical limitations. It covers electrical capacitance technology and radio-frequency identification (RFID), which focus mainly on voluntary locomotor activity in both single and multiple rodents, respectively. Infrared beams and force plates expand the detection beyond locomotor activity toward basic behavioral traits but discover their full potential in individually housed rodents only. Despite the great premises of these approaches in terms of behavioral pattern recognition, more sophisticated methods, such as (RFID-assisted) video tracking technology need to be applied to enable the automated analysis of advanced behavioral aspects of individual animals in social housing conditions.

Emerging Role of Translational Digital Biomarkers Within Home Cage Monitoring Technologies in Preclinical Drug Discovery and Development

In drug discovery and development, traditional assessment of human patients and preclinical subjects occurs at limited time points in potentially stressful surroundings (i.e., the clinic or a test arena), which can impact data quality and welfare. However, recent advances in remote digital monitoring technologies enable the assessment of human patients and preclinical subjects across multiple time points in familiar surroundings. The ability to monitor a patient throughout disease progression provides an opportunity for more relevant and efficient diagnosis as well as improved assessment of drug efficacy and safety. In preclinical in vivo animal models, these digital technologies allow for continuous, longitudinal, and non-invasive monitoring in the home environment. This manuscript provides an overview of digital monitoring technologies for use in preclinical studies including their history and evolution, current engagement through use cases, and impact of digital biomarkers (DBs) on drug discovery and the 3Rs. We also discuss barriers to implementation and strategies to overcome them. Finally, we address data consistency and technology standards from the perspective of technology providers, end-users, and subject matter experts. Overall, this review establishes an improved understanding of the value and implementation of digital biomarker (DB) technologies in preclinical research.

Low-intensity blast induces acute glutamatergic hyperexcitability in mouse hippocampus leading to long-term learning deficits and altered expression of proteins involved in synaptic plasticity and serine protease inhibitors

Neurocognitive consequences of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) pose significant concerns for military service members and veterans with the majority of "invisible injury." However, the underlying mechanism of such mild bTBI by low-intensity blast (LIB) exposure for long-term cognitive and mental deficits remains elusive. Our previous studies have shown that mice exposed to LIB result in nanoscale ultrastructural abnormalities in the absence of gross or apparent cellular damage in the brain. Here we tested the hypothesis that glutamatergic hyperexcitability may contribute to long-term learning deficits. Using brain slice electrophysiological recordings, we found an increase in averaged frequencies with a burst pattern of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in hippocampal CA3 neurons in LIB-exposed mice at 1- and 7-days post injury, which was blocked by a specific NMDA receptor antagonist AP5. In addition, cognitive function assessed at 3-months post LIB exposure by automated home-cage monitoring showed deficits in dynamic patterns of discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility in LIB-exposed mice. Collected hippocampal tissue was further processed for quantitative global-proteomic analysis. Advanced data-independent acquisition for quantitative tandem mass spectrometry analysis identified altered expression of proteins involved in synaptic plasticity and serine protease inhibitors in LIB-exposed mice. Some were correlated with the ability of discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility. These findings show that acute glutamatergic hyperexcitability in the hippocampus induced by LIB may contribute to long-term cognitive dysfunction and protein alterations. Studies using this military-relevant mouse model of mild bTBI provide valuable insights into developing a potential therapeutic strategy to ameliorate hyperexcitability-modulated LIB injuries.

Long-Term Effects of Low-Intensity Blast Non-Inertial Brain Injury on Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Mice: Home-Cage Monitoring Assessments

Mild traumatic brain injury induced by low-intensity blast (LIB) exposure poses concerns in military personnel. Using an open-field, non-inertial blast model and assessments by conventional behavioral tests, our previous studies revealed early-phase anxiety-like behaviors in LIB-exposed mice. However, the impact of LIB upon long-term anxiety-like behaviors requires clarification. This study applied a highly sensitive automated home-cage monitoring (HCM) system, which minimized human intervention and environmental changes, to assess anxiety-like responses in mice 3 months after LIB exposure. Initial assessment of 72-h spontaneous activities in a natural cage condition over multiple light and dark phases showed altered sheltering behaviors. LIB-exposed mice exhibited a subtle, but significantly decreased, duration of short shelter visits as compared to sham controls. Other measured responses between LIB-exposed mice and sham controls were insignificant. When behavioral assessments were performed in a challenged condition using an aversive spotlight, LIB-exposed mice demonstrated a significantly higher frequency of movements of shorter distance and duration per movement. Taken together, these findings demonstrated the presence of chronic anxiety-like behaviors assessed by the HCM system under both natural and challenged conditions in mice occurring post-LIB exposure. This model thus provides a platform to test for screening and interventions on anxiety disorders occurring after LIB non-inertial brain injury.

The overexpression of GDNF in nucleus accumbens suppresses alcohol-seeking behavior in group-housed C57Bl/6J female mice

Background

Craving for alcohol, in other words powerful desire to drink after withdrawal, is an important contributor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism. Here, we studied the role of GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor) and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) on alcohol-seeking behavior in group-housed female mice.

Methods

We modeled alcohol-seeking behavior in C57Bl/6J female mice. The behavioral experiments in group-housed female mice were performed in an automated IntelliCage system. We conducted RT-qPCR analysis of Gdnf, Bdnf, Manf and Cdnf expression in different areas of the female mouse brain after alcohol drinking conditioning. We injected an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector expressing human GDNF or BDNF in mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc) after ten days of alcohol drinking conditioning and assessed alcohol-seeking behavior. Behavioral data were analyzed by two-way repeated-measures ANOVA, and statistically significant effects were followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test. The student’s t-test was used to analyze qPCR data.

Results

The RT-qPCR data showed that Gdnf mRNA level in NAc was more than four times higher (p < 0.0001) in the mice from the sweetened alcohol group compared to the water group. Our data showed a more than a two-fold decrease in Manf mRNA (p = 0.04) and Cdnf mRNA (p = 0.02) levels in the hippocampus and Manf mRNA in the VTA (p = 0.04) after alcohol consumption. Two-fold endogenous overexpression of Gdnf mRNA and lack of CDNF did not affect alcohol-seeking behavior. The AVV-GDNF overexpression in nucleus accumbens suppressed alcohol-seeking behavior while overexpression of BDNF did not.

Conclusions

The effect of increased endogenous Gdnf mRNA level in female mice upon alcohol drinking has remained unknown. Our data suggest that an increase in endogenous GDNF expression upon alcohol drinking occurs in response to the activation of another mesolimbic reward pathway participant.