Abstract
A quantitative evaluation of motility is crucial for studies employing experimental animals. Here, we describe the development of an in-cage motility monitoring method for new world monkeys using off-the-shelf components, and demonstrate its capability for long-term operation (e.g., a year). Based on this novel system, we characterized the motility of the common marmoset over different time scales (seconds, hours, days, and weeks). Monitoring of seven young animals belonging to two different age groups (sub-adult and young-adult) over a 231-day period revealed: (1) strictly diurnal activity (97.3% of movement during daytime), (2) short-cycle (∼20 s) transition in activity, and (3) bimodal diurnal activity including a “siesta” break. Additionally, while the mean duration of short-cycle activity, net daily activity, and diurnal activity changed over the course of development, 24-h periodicity remained constant. Finally, the method allowed for detection of progressive motility deterioration in a transgenic marmoset. Motility measurement offers a convenient way to characterize developmental and pathological changes in animals, as well as an economical and labor-free means for long-term evaluation in a wide range of basic and translational studies.
Highlights
To move and explore the surrounding environment is crucial for animals
The lower diurnal index in the sub-adult group could indicate a not yet developed day-night cycle; whereas a smaller variance of activity during daytime could reflect an immature intradaytime cycle in younger animals. These findings suggest that the daily activity cycle of marmosets is shaped progressively during this age interval
We developed an in-cage motility monitoring method for marmosets using a passive infrared motion detector, and examined its feasibility during long-term operation (Figure 1)
Summary
Motility is vital for maintaining strength and the flexibility of behaviors required to survive under a constantly changing environment. Behavioral phenotyping of experimental animal models of human disease aims to quantitatively characterize the motor behavior and its disease-specific deviation from healthy animals (Lin et al, 2001; Pratte et al, 2011; Urbach et al, 2014). Measurement of bodily movement (e.g., locomotion or ambulation) is often included in the established battery of assays used to evaluate an animal’s behavior (Crawley and Paylor, 1997; Rogers et al, 1997). It offers a practical way to compare the level of motility among individuals with different genetic backgrounds (Tang et al, 2002), disease or disease progression (Portal et al, 2013). Motility measurements can reflect various factors, such as changes in the
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