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

Abstract

, +44 (0)161 2476210 *Title page-incl. type of article and authors name and affiliation Click here to download Title page-incl. type of article and authors name and affiliation: TitlePage.docx Highlights 1. Mice move their whiskers during tactile exploration. 2. We measure whisker movements and locomotion in 9 mouse strains. 3. Genotype, background strain, sex and source breeder affected whisker movements. 4. 8 of the 9 models showed differences in whisker movements, compared to controls. 5. We recommend a standardized protocol to measure whisker movements. *Highlights (for review) Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits.

Effects of the Novel IDO Inhibitor DWG-1036 on the Behavior of Male and Female 3xTg-AD Mice

“…To the best of our knowledge, the whisker barrel field of the 3xTg-AD mice has not been studied, but GABAergic neuronal loss has been shown in a mouse model carrying the same mutations (Loreth et al, 2012). In addition, we have measured differences in whisker movements, such as lower mean angular positions and retraction speeds in 3xTg-AD mice compared to WT controls (Simanaviciute et al, in press). Thus, the increased time spent in the open arms may be caused by painful whisker stimulation in the closed arms, and therefore, it is important to study other anxiety-related behaviors in the EPM.…”

Dissociating the effects of distraction and proactive interference on object memory through tests of novelty preference

“…Whilst the present data agree with prior studies that scPCP rodents have no deficit in acquiring and maintaining object memoryin the absence of distraction, we tested whether there was a quantitative difference in how scPCP rats use their whiskers to sense this information. Whisker movements during object contact are a vital source of environmental information for rodents and these are abnormal in other rodent models of neuropsychiatric disease that express sensory, motor and cognitive deficits (Grant et al, 2014;Grant et al, 2020;Simanaviciute et al, 2018;Garland et al, 2018).…”

“…Therefore, we suggest that the lack of whisker movement deficit following scPCP induction here may be due to using an adult rather than developmental model. Indeed, there is ample evidence for sensorimotor acquisition and integration disturbances in schizophrenic patients, potentially affecting the sense of self and body boundaries in particular (Postmes et al, 2014), and many transgenic preclinical models express changes in whisker movements and somatosensory cortical plasticity (Simanaviciute et al, 2018;Greenhill et al, 2015).…”

“…Whisker movements were filmed after dosing to determine whether scPCP treatment changed the way the rats explored objects. Testing was carried out as described previously (Grant et al, 2014;Simanaviciute et al, 2018). Rats explored two different objects sequentially (5min each) for one 10min session in a 30 x 50 x 15cm transparent Perspex enclosure sitting on a lightbox (59.4 x 84.1cm).…”

“…Here, we first ensured that scPCP treatment had no a priori effect on object sensing through whisker movements. This was important as whisker kinematics provide key tactile information to rodents about the environment and are altered in other rodent disease models (Grant et al, 2020;Grant et al, 2014;Simanaviciute et al, 2018). We next ran stNOR to reproduce the effect of distraction in scPCP rats.…”