gathering-self-initiated-rat-behavioral-data-to-characterize-post

Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits

Behavioral testing in rat models is frequently utilized for diverse purposes, including psychological, biomedical, and behavioral research. Many ...

University of North Texas

Selection has enriched our understanding of the world since it was first applied to the evolution of species. Selection stands as an alternative to essentialist thinking, as a generalized and multiply applicable concept, and as a causal explanation for current forms within biology and behavior. Attempts to describe selection processes in a generalizable way have provided clarity about their minimal elements, such as replicators and interactors. This paper discusses the interconnectedness among different levels of selection using evidence garnered from evolutionary biology, development, epigenetics, neuroscience, and behavior analysis. Currently, it appears that replicators and interactors may be more fluid than previously supposed and that selection for particular traits may rely on both multiple levels of interaction and multiple levels of replication. Replicators, interactors, and environment share influence on one another, and different replicators may exchange critical control over similar interactor variation as evolution proceeds. Our current understanding of selection continues to undergo revision, and reference to a number of disparate fields can help to account for the complexity of these processes. An understanding of their interconnectedness may help resolve some mysteries that develop in fields that exclusively focus on one or a few, such as the focused study of behavior.

The flight of the locus of selection: Some intricate relationships between evolutionary elements.

. Rodent models of stroke impairment should capture translatable features of behavioral injury. This study characterized poststroke impairment of motor precision separately from strength in an automated behavioral assay. . We measured skilled distal forelimb reach-and-grasp motions within a target force range requiring moderate-strength. We assessed whether deficits reflected an increase in errors on only one or both sides of the target force range after photothrombotic cortical stroke. . Pull accuracy was impaired for 6 weeks after stroke, with errors redistributing to both sides of the target range. No decrease in maximum force was measured. . This automated reach task measures sustained loss of motor precision following cortical stroke in mice.

Forelimb Cortical Stroke Reduces Precision of Motor Control in Mice.

Conventional methods for individually housing, training, and testing rodents in behavioral assays can impose constraints that may limit some kinds of experimental external validity, preempt environmental enrichment, impose heavy experimenter time burdens that limit high-throughput data collection, and negatively impact animal welfare.

An apparatus for automatically training and collecting individualized behavioral data with socially housed rodents.

Skilled forelimb reaching and grasping are important components of rodent motor performance. The isometric pull task can serve as a tool for quantifying forelimb function following stroke or other CNS injury as well as in forelimb rehabilitation. This task has been extensively developed for use in rats. Here, we describe methods of setup and training of an operant reach chamber for mice. Using a reward of peanut oil, mice are adaptively trained to pull a handle positioned slightly outside of an operant chamber, with automated recording of the number of attempts, force generated, success rate, and latency to maximal force.

April Becker

Department of Behavior Analysis,
College of Health and Public Service,
Department of Behavior Analysis, College of Health and Public Service

University of North Texas

Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits

April Becker

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Behavior Analysis,College of Health and Public Service,Department of Behavior Analysis, College of Health and Public Service

University of North Texas

Gathering Self-Initiated Rat Behavioral Data to Characterize Post-Stroke Deficits

Department of Behavior Analysis,
College of Health and Public Service,
Department of Behavior Analysis, College of Health and Public Service