Abstract
Visualization and tracking of the facial whiskers is required in an increasing number of rodent studies. Although many approaches have been employed, only high-speed videography has proven adequate for measuring whisker motion and deformation during interaction with an object. However, whisker visualization and tracking is challenging for multiple reasons, primary among them the low contrast of the whisker against its background. Here, we demonstrate a fluorescent dye method suitable for visualization of one or more rat whiskers. The process makes the dyed whisker(s) easily visible against a dark background. The coloring does not influence the behavioral performance of rats trained on a vibrissal vibrotactile discrimination task, nor does it affect the whiskers' mechanical properties.
Highlights
Many nocturnal or crepuscular rodents, including rats and mice, have long vibrissae that enable tactile exploration of the nearby environment (Grant et al, 2009; Carvell and Simons, 1990; Gustafson and Felbain-Keramidas, 1977; Vincent, 1912)
The electrical activity of facial muscles provides information about motor output commands, and correlates with whisking activity (Hill et al, 2008), but the technique includes an invasive implant and does not directly specify whisker position and deflection. Another technique is to image a high-contrast particle fixed to the whisker (Harvey et al, 2001; Venkatraman et al, 2009); the technique fails to track whisker shape and it likely perturbs whisker dynamics due to the particle mass and air resistance
Whisker position can be estimated by its intersection with a laser sheet (Jadhav et al, 2009), but this necessitates trimming the unwanted whiskers; whisker shape is lost
Summary
Many nocturnal or crepuscular rodents, including rats and mice, have long vibrissae that enable tactile exploration of the nearby environment (Grant et al, 2009; Carvell and Simons, 1990; Gustafson and Felbain-Keramidas, 1977; Vincent, 1912). The electrical activity of facial muscles provides information about motor output commands, and correlates with whisking activity (Hill et al, 2008), but the technique includes an invasive implant and does not directly specify whisker position and deflection. Another technique is to image a high-contrast particle fixed to the whisker (Harvey et al, 2001; Venkatraman et al, 2009); the technique fails to track whisker shape and it likely perturbs whisker dynamics due to the particle mass and air resistance. We confirm that the conserved tactile perception after application of the fluorescent dye arises from the fully conserved dynamic response of the whiskers
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