Project
protocol
-
Contents
Workflow
and
sampling
Step |
Procedure |
Equipment |
Data
collected |
1 |
Activity in a novel environment |
Automated activity monitor |
Distance traveled, number of rears |
2 |
Novel environment preference
|
Two chamber apparatus |
Activity in familiar and novel compartments |
3 |
Head dipping |
Hole board |
Distance traveled, activity, number of head dips, time spent head dipping
|
4 |
Object preference |
Hole board with objects in two of the holes
|
Distance traveled, activity, number of head dips, time spent head dipping |
5 |
Spontaneous alternation |
Y-maze |
Alternations |
Equipment
and
supplies
- Automated activity monitor (AccuScan Instruments, Columbus OH)
- Equipped with infrared beams
- Two chamber box
- Acrylic
- 40 x 40 cm total area
- One black-walled chamber with a white floor; one white-walled chamber with a black floor; separated by a vertically sliding door
- Equipped with infrared beams
- Hole board
- 40 x 40 cm board
- Four 2.9-cm diameter holes, spaced equidistant from one another
- Equipped with infrared beams
- Centrifuge caps, black binder clips, or marbles used as objects (each ~1.5 cm across)
- Y-maze
- Each arm 15 cm tall and 30 cm long and 5 cm wide clear acrylic
- Angles between arms = 120°
- Movable, opaque partition
Reagents
and
solutions
- Solution for cleaning equipment between tests
Procedure: Activity in a novel environment using a monitoring system
- Mice are placed in the apparatus and allowed to freely explore for 30 min.
Procedure: Novel environment preference using a two chamber apparatus
- Mice are placed into one compartment of the two chamber apparatus.
- Initial placement into the black or white chambers is counterbalanced within all genotypes.
- After a 15-min exposure to one of the compartments, the door is opened, and the mouse is allowed to freely explore for 20 min.
- Chance performance is indicated by a time of 600 s spent in the novel environment.
Procedure: Head dipping on the hole board
- Mice are placed in the apparatus and allowed to freely explore for 10 min.
Procedure: Object preference on the hole board
- Two small objects are placed into two of the holes at opposite corners of the apparatus.
- Mice are placed in the apparatus and allowed to freely explore for 10 min.
- Preference is calculated as the amount of time spent head dipping in holes that had objects divided by the total time spent head dipping (percent preference).
Procedure: Spontaneous alternation using the Y-maze
- Mice are forced to choose one of the two arms by occluding one arm with an opaque partition. Mice are confined to the chosen arm for ~ 30 s and then placed into holding cages while the apparatus is cleaned and both partitions removed.
- Mice are then placed back into the stem of the apparatus and allowed to choose either the arm they had previously entered or the novel arm.
- An entrance is defined as all four paws being within the arm.
Data
collected
by
investigator
- Activity in a novel environment
- Distance traveled
- Number of rears
- Rears residual
- Novel environment preference
- Activity in familiar compartment
- Activity in novel compartment
- Time in novel compartment
- Number of transitions between familiar and novel compartments
- Novel time residual
- Head dipping
- Distance traveled
- Activity
- Number of head dips
- Time spent head dipping
- Head dipping residual
- Object preference
- Distance traveled
- Activity
- Number of head dips
- Time spent head dipping
- Object preference, % time
- Object preference residual
- Spontaneous alternation
|