Laboras system, a system of 8 Activity Cages, 8 mice can live in their home cage, the computer tracks the vibrations the mouse makes, so it records activity, eating, drinking, grooming, epilepsy etc. also very good for circadian rhythms.

The system is used for short- or long-term studies of “activity”, from days up to one week.

Mouse Testing for....

Open Field

Elevated Zero Maze

Elevated Plus Maze

Object Recognition

Light/Dark

3-chamber Sociability

MAIN MOUSE WATER MAZE--Sign up for this water maze first if possible.

Water Maze #1--sign up for this water maze for mice first if possible.

Mouse Water Maze #2, also used for other video tracking purposes for mice when water maze not in use (Y-Maze also).

Back up second Water Maze and Video Tracking

The Catwalk allows the investigator to analyze the stepping/walking pattern of a mouse or rat. You need to train your mouse to walk peacefully from one end of the corridor to the other end of the corridor. The system records the footprints of the animal with a camera  and then analyzes the patterns of the footprints (and weight of footprints, this works better in rats). Many other outputs from the analysis are possible. In general several sessions are given to each mouse (before, after, etc,) NOTE: the program has a time limit for the test to be performed correctly.

The Foot Misplacement Apparatus (FMA) is a unique system to objectively detect gait or walking disorders, abnormalities of coordination and motor or reflex problems in small rodents (rat or mouse) in a highly accurate way, by recording the number, position and duration of errors (missteps or paws’ slips as well as tail errors) of an animal walking in an opaque corridor on a horizontal ladder towards a “darker” compartment.

            The ladder bars can be removed to increase the difficulty of the exercise by creating traps. Two sets of 77 infrared sensors are placed above and below the ladder to detect the animal’s movement and any paw misplacements. The number of errors increases with the animals motor deficit and the difficulty of the required task.

           The instrument allows you to quantify the recovery of sensorimotor activity. Two compartments (a departure and an arrival box) are located on each side of a long horizontal ladder encased in a corridor. The arrival box is a black compartment that attracts the animal, which walks towards the end of the ladder. Infra-red beams and sensors detect the rodent’s movement and are used to recognize and record the exact position and duration errors in motor control (missteps or paw slips between any 2 bars). We have a mouse version, i.e., smaller sized ladder inserts.

In general sessions last for 1-2 min, with 4 sessions per day for each mouse.

The Dynamic Weight Bearing system measures the weight placed on each foot of the mouse, this system can be used to detect motor problems, stroke, etc., etc.

Parameters measured

• Weight for each paw (g and % total animal weight)
• Weight for grouped front and rear paws (g and %total animal weight)
• Left/Right and Front/Rear weight ratio
• Surface for each paw (mm²)
• Surface for grouped front and rear paws (mm²)
• Variability (standard deviation/mean) for each parameter
• Parameters are given for each posture and as a mean for the whole experiment
• Duration of different postures (4 paws, rearing…) over the whole experiment (s)
• Total time spent on each paw over the whole experiment (s)

In general sessions last for 2-4 min for each mouse, with multiple sessions over a time period (days, weeks)

The DVC^® system, as a unique home-cage monitoring system, features the possibility to manage a dedicated activity wheel, also called running wheel, the DVC^® GYM500.

This activity wheel has been designed for laboratory mice to be used in conjunction with the Tecniplast standard GM500 IVC cage system and DVC^® system.

This activity wheel provides unique features:

• It automates data collection without requesting any extra effort (simply place it inside the cage and let the mice use it).
• Data are easily accessible also remotely through the DVC^® Analytics platform
• Mice can be left inside their standard home cage (Tecniplast GM500 IVC cage) without any specific set-up requirement.
• Users can be alerted by the DVC^® Analytics in real-time or set specific conditions if anything is not going as planned.
• Fully washable and autoclavable following the SOP standard

Rat Operant Conditioning Chambers for food and drugs.

Rat Operant Conditioning for drugs/food.

MOUSE ROOM FOR....

Barnes Maze

Open Field

Elevated Zero Maze

Elevated Plus Maze

Object Recognition

Y-maze

3-chamber social interaction

RAT Open Field, Plus Maze, Novel/Spatial Object Recog, Water Maze, Barnes Maze, Y Maze, Fear Cond, Forced Swim

The PhenoTyper is an instrumented “home” cage, available in a mouse home cage version. Every PhenoTyper is equipped with a top unit, including LED units and a camera, and optionally with other sensor and stimuli devices such as sound generators, operant conditioners, and optogenetic stimulus devices. Ideal for long-term studies. Our system is also capable of monitoring food and water intake. The system is used for short- or long-term studies of “activity”, from days up to weeks and months.

The Fear conditioning test is a learning & memory test, that uses foot shock as an aversive stimulus. Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian learning in which an association is made between stimuli and their aversive consequences. It is also a form of Pavlovian learning and the experimenter is able to regulate the stimulus parameters closely. Animals do not need to be food- or water-deprived to demonstrate fear conditioning. After one conditioning session, a robust and long-lasting behavioral change is produced which is particularly amenable to genetic and pharmacological studies that might require testing of large numbers of animals. It also affords the advantage that detailed time courses of the sequence of events that may occur after conditioning can be easily generated.

Two basic forms of fear condition are used, cued and contextual. In the first form, tone or lights are used as cue for the shock, in the second paradigm the environment is the “cue”. A basic one-trial procedure is usually used, alternate procedures that include contextual pre-exposure, contextual discrimination procedures, contextual conditioning without the auditory cue, and immediate shock exist.

Mouse Behavioral Apparati....

Treadmill

Rotarod

Grip Strength

Shuttle Boxes

The PhenoTyper is an instrumented “home” cage, available in a rat home cage version. Every PhenoTyper is equipped with a top unit, including LED units and a camera, and optionally with other sensor and stimuli devices such as sound generators, operant conditioners, and optogenetic stimulus devices. Ideal for long-term studies. Our system is also capable of monitoring food and water intake. The system is used for short- or long-term studies of “activity”, from days up to weeks and months.

The PhenoTyper is an instrumented “home” cage, available in a rat home cage version. Every PhenoTyper is equipped with a top unit, including LED units and a camera, and optionally with other sensor and stimuli devices such as sound generators, operant conditioners, and optogenetic stimulus devices. Ideal for long-term studies. Our system is also capable of monitoring food and water intake. The system is used for short- or long-term studies of “activity”, from days up to weeks and months.

Extra Mouse Video Tracking (Trialing Photometry by Drs. Bibb/Beas)

3-Chamber Sociability tests memory/recognition for conspecifics/strangers, other sex etc. For this test, usually a three-chambered setup is used. Depending on the question it is run similar to Object Recognition test- mice are exposed to the arena for 10-20 min, the next day they are exposed to two similar/identical subjects for 10 min, after a defined interval (anything from 5 min to 24h) the animal is tested with one the same and one different subject.
Another version of this task is to measure the difference in time spend with an object vs a subject (see right image), this is used for autism- like behavior.

The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) centers on rodents’ fear of open and elevated spaces. Arranged in a “+” shape, the Elevated Plus Maze has two closed and two open arms, as well as an open center. It is designed to be easy to clean by detaching arms. The animal is tracked (Noldus Ethovision XT 11) in the EPM or zero maze (ZM) for 4 min. The amount of time spend in the closed arms vs the open arms (or open area and closed area of the ZM ) is a measure of anxiety. The zero maze does not have a center area for decisions, such as the EPM has, and the data are therefore easier to interpret.
In general sessions last for 4 min, with 1 session for each mouse.

The Fear conditioning test is a short-term memory test, that uses foot shock as an aversive stimulus. Fear conditioning is a form of Pavlovian learning in which an
association is made between stimuli and their aversive consequences. It is also a form of Pavlovian learning and the experimenter is able to regulate the stimulus parameters
closely. Animals do not need to be food- or water-deprived to demonstrate fear conditioning.
After one conditioning session, a robust and long-lasting behavioral change is
produced which is particularly amenable to genetic and pharmacological studies that
might require testing of large numbers of animals. It also affords the advantage that detailed time courses of the sequence of events that may occur after conditioning can be easily generated.
Two basic forms of fear condition are used, cued and contextual. In the first form, tone or lights are used as cue for the shock, in the second paradigm the environment is the “cue”. A basic one-trial procedure is usually used, alternate procedures that include contextual pre-exposure, contextual discrimination procedures, contextual conditioning without the auditory cue, and immediate shock exist.

This test measures the spatial learning and memory performance of the animal (assumed to be related to hippocampal functioning). The animals are run for four or three trials (for mice trials are in general maximally 60 sec long, or until the animal finds the platform) per day in the pool for 5 days, with a hidden escape platform (0.5 cm below the water surface). After the last trial a probe trial is given, with no escape platform (memory test lasting 60 sec), this can be done either the same day or on a later day. The animals are tracked by a camera attached to a computer that runs Ethovision. Learning is indicated by the shortening of the latency to find the escape platform (see example). The water temperature should be between 20 and 23oC, depending on the room it requires a submersible heater or use of higher room temp.
Inbetween trials mice are put in a drying cage with a dry towel for 60-120 sec.

Rat Operant Conditioning for Drugs/Food

Rat Operant Conditioning for drugs/food.

MOUSE
Prepulse inhibition (PPI)
Rotarod
3-chamber sociability

Reserve for euthanasia et al.

RESERVE FOR SURGERIES, Euthanasia, et al.