Behavioral analysis of transgenic mice overexpressing corticotropin-releasing hormone

A. Dirks, L. Groenink, M. Verdouw, J. van der Gugten and B. Olivier (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Exploration of the behavioral consequences of chronic CRH overproduction in mice of two established transgenic lines (CRH-OE2122 and CRH-OE2123) in behavioral paradigms reflecting different aspects of stress, anxiety and depression.
In this study, The Observer and EthoVision allowed easy recording and analysis of specific behaviors, resulting in an extensive description of the behavioral profile of the mutant mice overexpressing CRH.  

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pu_neuro_dirks.pdf	88.27 KB

Play deprivation decreases adult social behavior.

Caroline van den Berg, Jan van Ree and Berry Spruijt (Utrecht, The Netherlands).The occurrence of social play has since long been recognized as relevant for the development of adult social behavior. This report describes the study of the consequences of one or two weeks of social isolation during the play period, followed by different rehousing procedures, on adult social activity. Different rehousing procedures were conducted to investigate whether the previous social experience (isolated or non-isolated) of the cage mate could influence the isolation-induced social behavioral effects. EthoVision was used for measuring social interactions.  

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pu_neuro_vdberg.pdf	83.55 KB

Using EthoVision to study social interactions in rodents.

Berry Spruijt, Thorwald Hol and Jacob Rousseau (Utrecht, The Netherlands).  
Rats have a complex repertoire of social behaviors. As social behavior is an accessible 'read-out system', it is often used for studying brain-behavior relationships. Although there have been studies on the consequences of social isolation on behavior and physiology in rats, the mechanisms underlying this apparent drive to keep social contact have not been elucidated. This article focuses on the behavioral and physiological characteristics of this phenomenon. Quantative measures were obtained with EthoVision.

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pu_neuro_spruijt.pdf	83.06 KB

Video tracking of grasshopper nymphs

Tim Gardiner, Ian Bland and Julian Hill (Chelmsford, UK and Parkville, Australia)
In the field, grasshopper nymphs may disperse from ‘spatially hostile’ homogeneous environments to heterogeneous habitats (longer grass) where there is adequate cover from predation or inclement weather. However, it is difficult to assess the velocity of walking and jumping movements of nymphs in the field as accurate assessment of the distance moved and the dependence of behavior on the prevailing meteorological conditions are significant problems technically. A camera system monitored with EthoVision was used in controlled laboratory conditions to determine the movement velocity of nymphs of the grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus, throughout their development in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments.
Movements of nymphs in the homogeneous environment generally seemed to be random for all instars, with a high occurrence of jumping. However, in the heterogeneous environment, jumping was less frequent and consequently movement velocities, particularly of late instars (3-4), were significantly lower than in the homogeneous environment. Although tracking of grasshoppers is challenging with regard to the natural characteristics of these insects, EthoVision is a useful tool for accurately determining movement velocity in grasshoppers.

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pu_zoo_gardiner.pdf	108.03 KB

Video tracking of marine invertebrate larvae using EthoVision 3.0

Jean Philippe Maréchal, Claire Hellio, Marion Sebire and anthony Clare (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom).The tropical barnacle, Balanus amphitrite, is an economically important fouling species (it settles on natural and artificial submerged surfaces) with a short generation time and larvae that are relatively easy to culture in the laboratory. These attributes have contributed to its acceptance as a model species for larval settlement studies. The settlement stage larva - the cyprid- typically displays searching behavior, in which the cyprid ‘walks’ over the surface using the attachment discs of its paired antennules. This behavior has proved difficult to measure in detail by conventional means. However, EthoVision is able to measure this behavior in detail. The three phases of cyprid exploratory behavior - wide search, close search and inspection - could be extracted from EthoVision data. Furthermore, valuable information was gathered on how larval behavior changes according to cyprid age or upon exposure to a cue. EthoVision allows to assay compounds and natural biofilms (bacteria and macroalgal spores) for antifouling activity. The studies reveals that the application of automated video tracking is a new approach to study marine larval settlement and is likely to find wide application in both fundamental and applied studies of this important life-cycle process.

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cs_zoo_marechal.pdf	222.55 KB

Behavioral responses of wallabies to predator odors.

Daniel Ramp and David Croft (Sydney, Australia). The assessment of threat is critical to an animal's survival. Prey species exhibit a variety of behavioral responses to the threat of predation. These responses rely on sensory cues to evaluate the risk of predation and enable prey to minimize that risk. A visual fix on a predator will provide a more accurate representation of the risk of predation than smelling freshly deposited scent or hearing a predator call. But for prey that exist in environments where visual cues are not often obtained before the predator is within the distance an animal would normally take flight, they must rely heavily on aural and olfactory cues and make decisions with less information at their disposal. This hypothesis was tested for the parma wallaby (Macropus parma) and the red-necked pademelon (Thylogale thetis). EthoVision was used to assess the behavioral responses of these two species.

A colorful EthoVision masquarade or how to trace moving pigs automatically.

Marek Spinka, Pavel Sustr and Ruth Newberry (Prague, Czech Republic).
For a significant part of their waking hours, young pigs are engaged in a variety of social interactions, which ranges from obviously playful gambols to fierce and injurious fighting. This article describes an experiment performed with EthoVision in which the importance of pre-weaning social experience for later social behavior is assessed.  

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pu_zoo_spinka.pdf	109.47 KB

An upwind flight with a happy landing: How teamwork leads to an innovative research instrument

Willem Takken, Piet Huisman, Marc Buma and Lucas Noldus (Wageningen, The Netherlands)This article describes a new system for automatic recording and analysis of the flight behavior of insects in wind tunnels. You can read how the system evolved from the drawing table to the laboratory and get an interesting look behind the screens of a complex development process.  

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pu_zoo_takken&noldus.pdf	211.82 KB

Stress, emotion and cognition; role of mineralo- and glucocorticoid receptors

by Vera Brinks

Stress hormones such as corticosteroids are crucial for the link between emotion and cognition. The objective of this research is to identify the contribution of corticosteroids and their receptors to the integration of emotional and cognitive processes.

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User_Report_Vera_Brinks_screen.pdf	0 bytes

Measuring behavior & physiology - An integrated system for video and radio-telemetric EEG

By Elena Moscardo and Chiara Rostello

The combined evaluation of physiology and behaviour allows for a complete and comprehensive preclinical assessment of central nervous system (CNS) functions.
An integrated video-telemetric electroencephalography (Video-tEEG) system was developed to enable simultaneous assessment of animal behaviour by video tracking technologies, and electroencephalographic analysis by radio-telemetry in freely moving rats.

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Case Study - PhenoTyper - Moscardo - screen.pdf	156.01 KB

Scorpaenidae metabolism - Measuring activity and oxygen consumption

Baseline metabolism is the minimum metabolic rate that a fish requires in order to maintain the physiological systems needed for survival. By definition, this minimum rate excludes any kind of internal or external labor, even digestion, and all movements, except the ventilation of the gills for respiration. The common method to estimate baseline metabolism is to measure or calculate standard oxygen consumption (SOC) rate.

The aims of this study were:

• to quantify spontaneous activity and oxygen con-sumption in tropical fish of the family Scorpaenidae;
• to find species or taxonomic groups in other climates which exhibit the same level of activity and thus the same mode of life;
• to conduct a preliminary comparison of standard oxygen consumption over a wider range of temperatures and to estimate the thermal sensitivity of resting metabolism.

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Case study - EthoVision - Tanrikulu - high.pdf	190.51 KB