Satellite Symposium during Neuroscience 2006: Back to the Future: Novel Approaches to the Study of Gene-Behavior Relationships

Satellite Symposium during Neuroscience 2006

Today’s genetic tools allow scientists to generate large numbers of mouse mutants on demand. However, advanced molecular tools cannot predict how a specific manipulation will manifest at the behavioral level. Since behavior is the ‘proof of the pudding’, neuroscientists have little choice but to test it directly. The pendulum that swung from neuro-ethological studies addressing the recognized complexity of behavior, to a reductionistic test battery consisting of short and simple tests, is swinging back again. Automation of laborious procedures into practical tools gives this swinging back extra momentum.

The symposium was welcomed and introduced by Ir. René Bourgonje from Noldus Information Technology, and ended with an interactive plenary discussion that was lead by Robert Gerlai (Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada). 

At this symposium, special attention was paid to automated testing in enriched home cage environments, allowing long-term continuous recording of baseline behavior as well as challenge-induced specific behavioral responses. Implications for the study of the genetic basis of brain disorders and the effect of pharmacological substances were lively discussed.

Presentations

• Standardizing tests of mouse behavior: Would it make a difference? by Douglas Wahlsten (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, Canada)
• The mouse 'touch screen' operant system; a novel, translational method for measuring executive function by Andrew Holmes (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, NIH, Rockville, MD, USA)
• Home sweet home: contribution of automated home cage observations to behavioral genetics by Leonie de Visser (Department of Animals, Science and Society, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands)