Abstract
BackgroundObtaining a complete phenotypic characterization of a freely moving organism is a difficult task, yet such a description is desired in many neuroethological studies. Many metrics currently used in the literature to describe locomotor and exploratory behavior are typically based on average quantities or subjectively chosen spatial and temporal thresholds. All of these measures are relatively coarse-grained in the time domain. It is advantageous, however, to employ metrics based on the entire trajectory that an organism takes while exploring its environment.Methodology/Principal FindingsTo characterize the locomotor behavior of Drosophila melanogaster, we used a video tracking system to record the trajectory of a single fly walking in a circular open field arena. The fly was tracked for two hours. Here, we present techniques with which to analyze the motion of the fly in this paradigm, and we discuss the methods of calculation. The measures we introduce are based on spatial and temporal probability distributions and utilize the entire time-series trajectory of the fly, thus emphasizing the dynamic nature of locomotor behavior. Marginal and joint probability distributions of speed, position, segment duration, path curvature, and reorientation angle are examined and related to the observed behavior.Conclusions/SignificanceThe measures discussed in this paper provide a detailed profile of the behavior of a single fly and highlight the interaction of the fly with the environment. Such measures may serve as useful tools in any behavioral study in which the movement of a fly is an important variable and can be incorporated easily into many setups, facilitating high-throughput phenotypic characterization.
Highlights
Characterizing the locomotor behavior of animals is essential to any study of the genotype-phenotype interaction
This is especially true for Drosophila melanogaster—genetic models of complex behaviors such as memory [1,2,3,4], drug addiction [5,6,7], and sleep [8,9,10,11], for example, are all based on measures that depend upon some observable movement of the flies
In order to complement the metrics that are currently used to describe the locomotor behavior of Drosophila [6,12,13,14,15], we have presented measures that utilize the entire trajectory of the walking fly in a circular arena
Summary
Characterizing the locomotor behavior of animals is essential to any study of the genotype-phenotype interaction This is especially true for Drosophila melanogaster—genetic models of complex behaviors such as memory [1,2,3,4], drug addiction [5,6,7], and sleep [8,9,10,11], for example, are all based on measures that depend upon some observable movement of the flies. Such measures may serve as useful tools in any behavioral study in which the movement of a fly is an important variable and can be incorporated into many setups, facilitating high-throughput phenotypic characterization
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