Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 18, 2026
A Behavioral Assay for Investigating the Role of Spatial Memory During Instinctive Defense in Mice
Published on: July 21, 2018
A simplified microwave-based motion detector for home cage activity monitoring in mice
Andreas Genewsky1, Daniel E Heinz1,2, Paul M Kaplick1,3,4
1Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Dep. Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, RG Neuronal Plasticity, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, Munich, D-80804 Germany.
Background:
Locomotor activity of rodents is an important readout to assess well-being and physical health, and is pivotal for behavioral phenotyping. Measuring homecage-activity with standard and cost-effective optical methods in mice has become difficult, as modern housing conditions (e.g. individually ventilated cages, cage enrichment) do not allow constant, unobstructed, visual access. Resolving this issue either makes greater investments necessary, especially if several experiments will be run in parallel, or is at the animals' expense. The purpose of this study is to provide an easy, yet satisfying solution for the behavioral biologist at novice makers level.
Results:
We show the design, construction and validation of a simplified, low-cost, radar-based motion detector for home cage activity monitoring in mice. In addition we demonstrate that mice which have been selectively bred for low levels of anxiety-related behavior (LAB) have deficits in circadian photoentrainment compared to CD1 control animals.
Conclusion:
In this study we have demonstrated that our proposed low-cost microwave-based motion detector is well-suited for the study of circadian rhythms in mice.
