Measuring vision using innate behaviours in mice with intact and impaired retina function

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Vision Science
• Animal Models

Background:

• Assessing vision in rodents is crucial for understanding visual processing and developing treatments for human eye diseases.
• Traditional behavioral tests often require extensive training, which can be challenging for animals with impaired vision.
• Existing non-training tests rely on sub-conscious reflexes, not engaging higher-order brain regions involved in vision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel method for measuring vision in mice using innate defensive responses.
• To assess the utility of this method in both healthy and visually impaired rodent models.
• To establish automatic detection of behavioral responses for precise vision measurement.

Main Methods:

• Development of automated high-dimensional tracking and changepoint detection for behavioral time series analysis.
• Elicitation of visually guided innate defensive responses (e.g., escape, freeze) using controlled stimuli.
• Application of the method to quantify visual acuity in healthy mice and visual dysfunction in retinal degeneration models.

Main Results:

• Successfully developed automated methods for detecting innate visual responses.
• Demonstrated that these responses can be reliably elicited with customizable visual stimuli.
• Showcased the method's effectiveness in determining visual acuity limits and discriminating visual impairment severity.

Conclusions:

• Visually guided innate defensive responses offer a viable, training-free alternative for vision assessment in rodents.
• This novel approach provides a more comprehensive measure of vision by engaging cortical and thalamic circuits.
• The automated detection system enhances the precision and applicability of vision testing in preclinical research.