Assays of tongue force, timing, and dynamics in rat and mouse models

Rudisch, Denis Michael; Krasko, Maryann N.; Nisbet, Alex F.; Schaen-Heacock, Nicole E.; Ciucci, Michelle R.

doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2022.04.008

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…To overcome those limitations, we developed and validated a cost-effective and sensitive force lick sensor, which can be used with freely moving mice. In contrast to the available force lickometer which measures licking on a flat disk ( Rudisch et al, 2022 ; Wang and Fowler, 1999 ), our SG lickometer can be easily integrated to measure directional licking in a large number of behavioral setups, including head-fixed settings. The SG lickometer gives the opportunity to correlate an unexplored aspect of licking behavior (i.e., the licking force) in both head-fixed and freely moving conditions, thereby allowing evaluation of movement vigor ( Dudman and Krakauer, 2016 ) and measurement of the motivation of the animal to collect rewards ( Deng et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

FreiBox: A Versatile Open-Source Behavioral Setup for Investigating the Neuronal Correlates of Behavioral Flexibility via 1-Photon Imaging in Freely Moving Mice

Crompe

Schneck

Steenbergen

et al. 2023

eNeuro

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To survive in a complex and changing environment, animals must adapt their behavior. This ability is called behavioral flexibility and is classically evaluated by a reversal learning paradigm. During such a paradigm, the animals adapt their behavior according to a change of the reward contingencies. To study these complex cognitive functions (from outcome evaluation to motor adaptation), we developed a versatile, low-cost, open-source platform, allowing us to investigate the neuronal correlates of behavioral flexibility with 1-photon calcium imaging. This platform consists of FreiBox, a novel low-cost Arduino behavioral setup, as well as further open-source tools, which we developed and integrated into our framework. FreiBox is controlled by a custom Python interface and integrates a new licking sensor (strain gauge lickometer) for controlling spatial licking behavioral tasks. In addition to allowing both discriminative and serial reversal learning, the Arduino can track mouse licking behavior in real time to control task events in a submillisecond timescale. To complete our setup, we also developed and validated an affordable commutator, which is crucial for recording calcium imaging with the Miniscope V4 in freely moving mice. Further, we demonstrated that FreiBox can be associated with 1-photon imaging and other open-source initiatives (e.g., Open Ephys) to form a versatile platform for exploring the neuronal substrates of licking-based behavioral flexibility in mice. The combination of the FreiBox behavioral setup and our low-cost commutator represents a highly competitive and complementary addition to the recently emerging battery of open-source initiatives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

FreiBox: A Versatile Open-Source Behavioral Setup for Investigating the Neuronal Correlates of Behavioral Flexibility via 1-Photon Imaging in Freely Moving Mice

Crompe

Schneck

Steenbergen

et al. 2023

eNeuro

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“…Non-invasive avenues for eliciting tongue muscle fatigue and modeling tongue muscle exercise in animals include behavioral tongue exercises. As previously reviewed [71], rats can be trained to push the tongue against a disk with a known resistance. Rats can also be trained to engage in a tongue exercise training regimen to gradually increase volitional tongue press forces as resistance at the disk is increased.…”

Section: Behavioral Tongue Exercisementioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergetic Evaluation of Muscle Fatigue in Murine Tongue

et al. 2022

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Muscle fatigue is the diminution of force required for a particular action over time. Fatigue may be particularly pronounced in aging muscles, including those used for swallowing actions. Because risk for swallowing impairment (dysphagia) increases with aging, the contribution of muscle fatigue to age-related dysphagia is an emerging area of interest. The use of animal models, such as mice and rats (murine models) allows experimental paradigms for studying the relationship between muscle fatigue and swallowing function with a high degree of biological precision that is not possible in human studies. The goal of this article is to review basic experimental approaches to the study of murine tongue muscle fatigue related to dysphagia. Traditionally, murine muscle fatigue has been studied in limb muscles through direct muscle stimulation and behavioral exercise paradigms. As such, physiological and bioenergetic markers of muscle fatigue that have been validated in limb muscles may be applicable in studies of cranial muscle fatigue with appropriate modifications to account for differences in muscle architecture, innervation ratio, and skeletal support. Murine exercise paradigms may be used to elicit acute fatigue in tongue muscles, thereby enabling study of putative muscular adaptations. Using these approaches, hypotheses can be developed and tested in mice and rats to allow for future focused studies in human subjects geared toward developing and optimizing treatments for age-related dysphagia.

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