While this represents a significant burden (obtaining quantified

While this represents a significant burden (obtaining quantified behavioral output does requires more than a single click of the mouse), the user can develop any algorithm and extract a practically a limitless variety of behavioral measures according to his/her needs. We have been developing extraction tools that are based upon the open source language R. Currently, we have designed close to 20 R scripts that extract numerous behaviors including classic swim path parameters speed, absolute and relative turn angle, distance from a set point, distance from a set vertical or horizontal line and time

spent in any designated area. In addition, we also started Metformin in vivo to extract parameters that represent more complex motor and posture patterns. For example, the number of changes in the direction of movement (angular acceleration above a certain degree/s) or the inter-individual temporal variability of swim speed we have found to correlate very well with erratic movement quantified using observation based methods [25] ( Figure 2, panels b,c). Erratic movement, or zig-zagging, is a complex

motor reaction that previously had to be recorded manually EPZ5676 in vivo but with video-tracking methods now can be quantified in an automated manner. Erratic movement has been found one of the most universal, precise and distinguishing features of fear responses and thus its automatic recording may be important for screening mutations and drugs that enhance or reduce fear in zebrafish 15, 20 and 25. One may assume that high throughput means simplicity. While it is true that simple tasks are usually easier to run fast, even complex and time consuming tasks may be made high throughput. The only question is how scaleable they are. If both stimulus delivery and behavioral response quantification Erastin nmr are automated, the task can in principle

be run in a massively parallel manner. Thus even complicated paradigms that take a long time to complete may qualify for high throughput testing. Consider the example of the analysis of learning and memory in zebrafish. Analysis of learning and memory often (but not always) requires multiple training and testing trials and thus is usually considered low throughput. Nevertheless, a number of zebrafish studies suggest that high throughput is achievable even for this purpose. For example, we have developed a method with which we can measure associative learning and memory in a zebrafish shuttle box [26]. The task can be run in a number of ways 26 and 27 but in all versions the fish are required to remember where they have seen a stimulus, a group of animated zebrafish images ‘swimming’ on the computer monitor placed adjacently to some of the sides of the experimental tank (Figure 1, panel b). Completion of several training sessions and probe trials (tests for memory) may require up to 2 hours per fish.

Comments are closed.