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Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits

Simanaviciute, Ugne; Ahmed, Jewel; Brown, Richard E.; Connor-Robson, Natalie; Farr, Tracy D.; Fertan, Emre; Gambles, Nikki; Garland, Huw; Morton, A. Jennifer; Staiger, Jochen F.; Skillings, Elizabeth; Trueman, Rebecca C.; Wade-Martins, Richard; Wood, Nigel I.; Wong, Aimee A.; Grant, Robyn A.

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Authors

Ugne Simanaviciute

Jewel Ahmed

Richard E. Brown

Natalie Connor-Robson

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TRACY FARR T.Farr@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Emre Fertan

Nikki Gambles

Huw Garland

A. Jennifer Morton

Jochen F. Staiger

Elizabeth Skillings

Richard Wade-Martins

Nigel I. Wood

Aimee A. Wong

Robyn A. Grant



Abstract

Background : Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains.
New Method : We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington‘s disease, Parkinson‘s disease, Alzheimer‘s disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke.
Results : Sex, background strain, source breeder and genotype all affected whisker movements. All mouse models, apart from Parkinson’s disease, revealed differences in whisker movements during locomotion. R6/2 CAG250 Huntington’s disease mice had the strongest behavioural phenotype. Robo3R3-5-CKO and RIM-DKOSert mouse models have abnormal somatosensory cortex development and revealed significant changes in whisker movements during object exploration.
Comparison with Existing Method(s) : Our results have good agreement with past studies, which indicates the robustness and reliability of measuring whisking. We recommend that differences in whisker movements of mice with motor deficits can be captured in open field arenas, but that mice with impairments to sensory or cognitive functioning should also be filmed investigating objects. Scoring clips qualitatively before tracking will help to structure later analyses.
Conclusions: Studying whisker movements provides a quantitative measure of sensing, motor control and exploration. However, the effect of background strain, sex and age on whisker movements needs to be better understood.

Citation

Simanaviciute, U., Ahmed, J., Brown, R. E., Connor-Robson, N., Farr, T. D., Fertan, E., …Grant, R. A. (2020). Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 331, Article 108532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108532

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 25, 2019
Online Publication Date Nov 28, 2019
Publication Date Feb 1, 2020
Deposit Date Dec 16, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Neuroscience Methods
Print ISSN 0165-0270
Electronic ISSN 1872-678X
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 331
Article Number 108532
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108532
Keywords General Neuroscience
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3582267
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165027019303899
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits; Journal Title: Journal of Neuroscience Methods; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108532; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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