Background Behavioral assessment of mutant mouse models and novel candidate drugs is a slow and labor intensive process. This limitation produces a significant impediment to CNS drug discovery. New method By combining video and vibration analysis we created an automated system that provides the most detailed description of mouse behavior available. Our system (The Behavioral Spectrometer) allowed for the rapid assessment of behavioral abnormalities in the BTBR model of Autism, the restraint model of stress and the irritant model of inflammatory pain. Results We found that each model produced a unique alteration of the spectrum of behavior emitted by the mice. BTBR mice engaged in more grooming and less rearing behaviors. Prior restraint stress produced dramatic increases in grooming activity at the expense of locomotor behavior. Pain produced profound decreases in emitted behavior that were reversible with analgesic treatment. Comparison with existing method(s) We evaluated our system through a direct comparison on the same subjects with the current “gold standard” of human observation of video recordings. Using the same mice evaluated over the same range of behaviors, the Behavioral Spectrometer produced a quantitative categorization of behavior that was highly correlated with the scores produced by trained human observers (r=0.97). Conclusions Our results show that this new system is a highly valid and sensitive method to characterize behavioral effects in mice. As a fully automated and easily scalable instrument the Behavioral Spectrometer represents a high-throughput behavioral tool that reduces the time and labor involved in behavioral research.

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Attempts have been made, especially in Asia, to displace harmful algal blooms (HABs) by spraying 'china clay' and 'loess' over a¡ected coastal waters. The impact of this technique on benthic communities and processes is not known. We examined the e¡ects of yellow loess on clearance rates of the benthic, ¢lterfeeding invertebrates, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin 1791), C. gigas (Thunberg 1793), Mytilus edulis (Linnaeus 1758), M. trossulus (Gould 1850), Argopecten irradians (Lamarck 1819), and Crepidula fornicata (Linnaeus 1758). An Obelia species of hydroid was also studied and the percent time open was analysed. Depletion rates were measured using a range of loess concentrations suspended in culture with unicellular algae (Rhodomonas lens) in 0.45 mm ¢ltered seawater. The e¡ects of loess on clearance rates and behaviour were species-speci¢c. C. virginica was not impacted until clay concentrations reached 1.0 g L À 1 , while A. irradians showed a signi¢cant decrease at 0.01g L À 1 . M. edulis showed a signi¢cant decrease in clearance rates at the 1 and 10 g L À 1 concentrations. For hydroids, the percent time open was signi¢cantly lower than the control at 0.01, 0.1, and 10 g L À 1 .We clearly demonstrate that loess has a sig-ni¢cant negative impact on ¢lter-feeding invertebrates. The use of clay as a strategy for mitigation of HABs should be approached with extreme caution. While the control of active blooms may eventually be possible, it may not necessarily be an environmentally advisable or responsible approach to dealing with HABs.

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