Name: assessing the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rats using elevator vertical motion and ferris-wheel rotation
Uploaded: 2020-02-07T12:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Assessing the Autonomic and Behavioral Effects of Passive Motion in Rats using Elevator Vertical Motion and Ferris-Wheel Rotation at JoVE.com

This work was supported in part by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Early Career Scheme, Project #21201217 to C. L. The FWR device has a patent in China: ZL201120231912.1.

The present study and procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation of the Second Military Medical University (Shanghai, China) in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (US National Research Council, 1996).
1. Animals
<ol>
	<li>Use Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats of two months (200&#8211;250 g). For each behavioral assay, use a separate group of rats. Always use separate control and experimental groups. 
	NOTE: There were two autonom...

<ol>
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The present study describes assessing autonomic responses to passive motion in rodents using elevator vertical motion and Ferris-wheel rotation. These equipment and procedures can be easily adopted to other rodents and several modifications of the assays exist to confirm vestibular functioning in different circumstances, such as during in pharmacological challenge or surgical interventions. Research in MS elicited by vestibular stimulation has led to the theory that sensory conflict or neuronal mismatch caused by receivi...

Motion sickness (MS) due to abnormal visuo-vestibular stimulation leads to autonomic reaction, eliciting symptoms such epigastric discomfort, nausea and/or vomiting1. According to current theories, motion sickness may be caused by a sensory conflict or neuronal mismatch from receiving integrated motion information that differs from the anticipated internal model of the environment2,3 or postural instability as would occur on a yawing ship4,5. Despite significant advances in the field of motion sickness and vestibular autonomic functioning6,7,8,9,10,11,12, future research can be aided by standardized evaluation protocols. Assessing the autonomic effects of standard passive motions will greatly benefit investigations into the causes and prevention of motion sickness. The overall goal of this study is to assess the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rodents. Animal models, such as rodents, allow easy experimental manipulation (e.g., passive motion and pharmaceutical) and behavioral evaluation, which can be used to study the etiology of motion sickness. Here, we present a detailed battery for testing the effects of passive motion and the integrity of vestibular functioning.
The present study details two assays, elevator vertical motion (EVM) and Ferris-wheel rotation (FWR), that induce autonomic reactions to the passive motion. The assays are coupled to three quantitative behavioral measures, the balance beam (on mice13 and rats14,15,16,17), open-field examination, and defecation counting. The EVM (similar to the pitch and roll of a ship encountering a wave) assesses vestibular functioning by stimulating the otolith sensory organs that encode linear accelerations (i.e., the saccule that responds to movements in the vertical plane)18. The FWR (centrifugal rotation or sinusoidal motion) device stimulates the otolith organs by linear acceleration and the semicircular canals by angular acceleration19,20. The Ferris-wheel/centrifugal rotation device is unique in its autonomic assessment. To date, the only similar device in the literature is the off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR) turntable, which is used to examine the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)18,21,22, conditioned avoidance23,24, and the effects of hypergravity25,26,27. The EVM assay and the FWR device assay induce vestibular stimulation leading to autonomic reactions. We couple the EVM and FWR to quantitative measurements such as balance beam, defecation counting, and open-field analysis28,29,30, to ensure robust and reproducible results. Similar to those previously described in mice13 and rats14,15,16,17, the balance beam assay is a 1.0 m long beam suspended 0.75 m from the ground between two wooden stools using a simple black-box modification at the goal end (finish). The balance beam has been used to assess anxiety (obscure black box)14,17, traumatic injury15,16,17, and here, autonomic reactions affecting balance. We have performed defecation counting for assessing the autonomic response in the motion sickness model previously, and it is a reliable quantitative measurement that is easily performed and unequivocally assessed6,8,9,11. The open-field analysis employs a simple black box open-&#64257;eld behavior assessment using Ethovision28, Bonsai30, or a simple video analysis in Matlab29 to quantify behavior such as motion. In the current protocol, we use the total distance traveled, but we note several different paradigms exist (e.g., elongation, zone of movement, velocity, etc.)28,29,30. Collectively, these procedures form a short battery of assessments for the examination and evaluation of autonomic reactions to passive motion, for example in motion sickness6,7,8,9,10,11. The present assays can be adapted to a variety of animal models.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Elevator vertical motion device</td>
			<td>Custom</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Custom-made Elevator vertical motion device to desired specifications</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethovision</td>
			<td>Noldus Information Technology</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Video tracking software</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ferris-wheel rotation device</td>
			<td>Custom</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Custom-made Ferris-wheel rotation device to desired specifications</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Latex, polyvinyl or nitrile gloves</td>
			<td>AMMEX</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Use unpowdered gloves 8-mil</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Open field box</td>
			<td>Custom</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Darkened plexiglass box with IR camera</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rat or mouse</td>
			<td>JAX labs</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Any small rodent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Small rodent cage</td>
			<td>Tecniplast</td>
			<td>1284L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Wooden beam and stools</td>
			<td>Custom</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Custom-made wooden beam and stools to specifications indicated</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

assessing the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rats using elevator vertical motion and ferris-wheel rotation

The overall goal of this study is to assess the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rodents using the elevator vertical motion and Ferris-wheel rotation devices. These assays can help confirm the integrity and normal functioning of the autonomic nervous system. They are coupled to quantitative measures based on defecation counting, open-field examination, and balance beam crossing. The advantages of these assays are their simplicity, reproducibility, and quantitative behavioral measures. The limitations of these assays are that the autonomic reactions could be epiphenomena of non-vestibular disorders and that a functioning vestibular system is required. Examination of disorders such as motion sickness will be greatly aided by the detailed procedures of these assays.

Figure 2 demonstrates representative balance beam results of time taken to transverse. Rats were trained for 3 consecutive days in order to achieve stable performance on the balance beam10. The subsequent day, rats were evaluated for balance beam performance. In the y-axis of the figure, we have the number of seconds taken for rodents to cross the balance beam for Ferris-wheel, elevator vertical motion, and control groups for demonstrative purposes.
<p class="jove...

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Assessing the Autonomic and Behavioral Effects of Passive Motion in Rats using Elevator Vertical Motion and Ferris-Wheel Rotation

Protocols are presented to assess the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rodents using elevator vertical motion and Ferris-wheel rotation.

The overall goal of this study is to assess the autonomic and behavioral effects of passive motion in rodents using the elevator vertical motion and ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Behavior

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats

Environmental contexts in which drugs of abuse are consumed can trigger craving, a subjective Pavlovian-conditioned response that can facilitate ...

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Executive functions consist of multiple high-level cognitive processes that drive rule generation and behavioral selection. An emergent property of these ...

How to Study Placebo Responses in Motion Sickness with a Rotation Chair Paradigm in Healthy Participants

Placebo responses occur in every medical intervention when patients or participants expect to receive an effective treatment to relieve symptoms. However, ...

Multifunctional Setup for Studying Human Motor Control Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Electromyography, Motion Capture, and Virtual Reality

The study of neuromuscular control of movement in humans is accomplished with numerous technologies. Non-invasive methods for investigating neuromuscular ...

Substantiating Appropriate Motion Capture Techniques for the Assessment of Nordic Walking Gait and Posture in Older Adults

Nordic walking (NW) has become a safe and simple form of exercise in recent years, and in studying this gait pattern, various data collection techniques ...

Visualizing Motion Patterns in Acupuncture Manipulation

Acupuncture manipulation varies widely among practitioners in clinical settings, and it is difficult to teach novice students how to perform acupuncture ...

The Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test (rPVT): A Method for Assessing Neurobehavioral Performance in Rats and Mice

The Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test rPVT: A Method for Assessing Neurobehavioral Performance in Rats and Mice

The human Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is a widely used procedure for measuring changes in fatigue and sustained attention. The present article ...

Behavioral Disturbances: An Innovative Approach to Monitor the Modulatory Effects of a Nutraceutical Diet

In dogs, diets are often used to modulate behavioral disturbances related to chronic anxiety and stress caused by intense and restless activity. However, ...

Measuring the Kinematics of Daily Living Movements with Motion Capture Systems in Virtual Reality

The inability to complete instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is a precursor to various neuropsychological diseases. Questionnaire-based ...

Measuring Active and Passive Tameness Separately in Mice

Domesticated animals such as dogs and laboratory mice show a high level of tameness, which is important for humans to handle them easily. Tameness has two ...