An open-source device for measuring food intake and operant behavior in rodent home-cages

Matikainen‐Ankney, Bridget A.; Earnest, Thomas; Ali, Mohamed A.; Casey, Emily; Wang, Justin G; Sutton, Amy K.; Legaria, Alex A.; Barclay, Kia; Murdaugh, Laura B.; Norris, Makenzie R.; Chang, Yu‐Hsuan; Nguyen, Katrina P.; Lin, Eric; Reichenbach, Alex; Clarke, Rachel E.; Stark, Romana; Conway, Sineadh M.; Carvalho, Filipe; Al‐Hasani, Ream; McCall, Jordan G.; Creed, Meaghan C.; Cazares, Victor A.; Buczynski, Matthew W.; Krashes, Michael J.; Andrews, Zane B.; Kravitz, Alexxai V.

doi:10.7554/elife.66173

Cited by 74 publications

(95 citation statements)

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“…If a neural manipulation is being operated remotely, appropriate safeguards need to be in place to mitigate any potential harm to the research subject. These considerations are similar to any home-cage-based study, such as those for circadian and feeding behaviours 33 where experiments often occur over many hours with the experimenter in a separate location.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…5b). Following recovery from surgery, ad libitum fed agrp Cre x Ai32 mice were trained to collect pellets from a feeding experimentation device version 3 (FED3) 33 overnight for 3 d. FED3 is an open-source homecage feeding device that allows continuous food intake measurements inside a standard mouse homecage with minimal experimenter intervention. Following this training period, all animals from both experiments were placed in separate staging areas within the behavioural testing room -small open fields for the Thy1 ChR2-YFP mice and FED3-enabled home cages for the agrp Cre x Ai32 mice -1 h before simultaneous testing.…”

Section: Nature Biomedical Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure for large-scale behavioural neuroscience

et al. 2021

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The use of rodents to acquire understanding of the function of neural circuits and of the physiological, genetic and developmental underpinnings of behaviour has been constrained by limitations in the scalability, automation and high-throughput operation of implanted wireless neural devices. Here we report scalable and modular hardware and software infrastructure for setting up and operating remotely programmable miniaturized wireless networks leveraging Bluetooth Low Energy for the study of the long-term behaviour of large groups of rodents. The integrated system allows for automated, scheduled and real-time experimentation via the simultaneous and independent use of multiple neural devices and equipment within and across laboratories. By measuring the locomotion, feeding, arousal and social behaviours of groups of mice or rats, we show that the system allows for bidirectional data transfer from readily available hardware, and that it can be used with programmable pharmacological or optogenetic stimulation. Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure should facilitate the remote operation of fully automated large-scale and long-term closed-loop experiments for the study of neural circuits and animal behaviour.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Nature Biomedical Engineeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure for large-scale behavioural neuroscience

et al. 2021

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“…Feeding experimental devices 3 (FED3; Open Ephys, Portugal) were used for operant conditioning and were placed in the home cage with a divider attached to prevent mice from climbing the device 20 . FED3 reduces stress and negates the need to calorie restrict mice to learn the association between the correct nose poke and pellet delivery, an important consideration when studying the interaction between homeostatic and motivational pathways.…”

Section: Behavioural Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To assess whether the mPFC-LH pathway suppresses motivated behaviour to obtain a food reward (20mg sucrose pellet), we used a FED3 home cage operant conditioning system (Fig 2M) 20 . Mice were trained on FR1-FR3-FR5 schedules until all mice correctly selected the active nose poke 75% of total pokes performed (Fig 2N).…”

Section: Activation Of the Mpfc-lh Pathway Is Anorectic And Reduces Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of a stress-sensitive anorexigenic neurocircuit from medial prefrontal cortex to lateral hypothalamus

Clarke

Voigt

Stark

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Animal models that examine neural circuits controlling food intake often lack translational relevance. To address this limitation, we identified neural network dynamics related to homeostatic state and BMI in humans. This approach predicted a novel pathway projecting from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) in humans. We then dissected the mechanistic underpinnings of this human-relevant mPFC-LH circuit in mice. Chemogenetic or optogenetic activation of the mPFC-LH pathway in mice suppressed food intake and motivated sucrose-seeking. Fibre photometry demonstrated this pathway was active in response to acute stress or prior to novel environment or object exposure, suggesting a role in the predictive assessment of potential threat. Food consumption suppressed mPFC-LH neuronal activity, independent of metabolic state or palatability. Finally, inhibition of this circuit increased feeding and motivated behaviour under mild stress and chronic ablation caused weight gain. These studies identify the mPFC-LH as a novel stress-sensitive anorexigenic neural pathway involved in the cortical control of food intake and motivated reward-seeking.

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“…In our experience, 3D-printed objects using polylactic acid (PLA) or polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) filaments cost approximately USD$1–3 per printed object depending on object height and fill density used. This has opened the door to many open source tools and apparatuses in the field, such as automated feeding assessment devices ( Matikainen-Ankney et al, 2021 ), automated drinking and lick incidence measurement apparatuses ( Frie and Khokhar, 2019 ; Godynyuk et al, 2019 ), automated catalepsy measurement tools ( Luciani et al, 2020 ), and capacitance sensor based objects for object recognition ( Spry et al, 2021 ). In the case of spontaneous recognition memory tasks, the use of 3D-printed objects offers the additional advantages of increased design flexibility, uniformity across labs and renewability, thereby increasing rigor, reproducibility and consistency over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting and Optimizing the Use of 3D-Printed Objects in Spontaneous Recognition Memory Tasks in Rodents: A Method for Improving Rigor and Reproducibility

Inayat

Cruz-Sanchez

Thorpe

et al. 2021

eNeuro

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Spontaneous recognition memory tasks are widely used to assess cognitive function in rodents and have become commonplace in the characterization of rodent models of neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Leveraging an animal’s innate preference for novelty, these tasks use object exploration to capture the what, where and when components of recognition memory. Choosing and optimizing objects is a key feature when designing recognition memory tasks. Although the range of objects used in these tasks varies extensively across studies, object features can bias exploration, influence task difficulty and alter brain circuit recruitment. Here, we discuss the advantages of using 3D-printed objects in rodent spontaneous recognition memory tasks. We provide strategies for optimizing their design and usage, and offer a repository of tested, open-source designs for use with commonly used rodent species. The easy accessibility, low-cost, renewability and flexibility of 3D-printed open-source designs make this approach an important step toward improving rigor and reproducibility in rodent spontaneous recognition memory tasks.

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An open-source device for measuring food intake and operant behavior in rodent home-cages

Cited by 74 publications

References 50 publications

Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure for large-scale behavioural neuroscience

Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure for large-scale behavioural neuroscience

Identification of a stress-sensitive anorexigenic neurocircuit from medial prefrontal cortex to lateral hypothalamus

Promoting and Optimizing the Use of 3D-Printed Objects in Spontaneous Recognition Memory Tasks in Rodents: A Method for Improving Rigor and Reproducibility

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