Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Résumé fourni par la source

The optomotor reflex (OMR) provides a behavioral assessment of an animal's contrast sensitivity and visual acuity. Mice or rats are typically placed directly onto a small circular platform by hand; however, handling animals like this can stimulate stress and anxiety, which introduce confounding factors when interpreting data. It has been shown that non-aversive handling methods, such as picking up mice or rats in a familiar tunnel/tube, can reduce anxiety. This is of particular interest in studies where animals display heightened stress, overactivity, or motor dysfunction, resulting in an inability to stay on the platform. A team led by Drs. Kiyoharu J. Miyagishima and Francisco M. Nadal-Nicolás have redesigned the conventional OMR platform to provide semi-closed containment. This makes it possible for the first time to record the optomotor reflex in the 13-lined ground squirrel, which is one of the few mammals that can see color. It has a visual streak with a high density of cones similar to the human macula providing an attractive model for studying effects on the cone visual system.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.