Mouse Bio-behavioral Phenotyping Using a Digital Homecage Framework for Long-timescale, High-resolution, and...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science
• Animal Models

Background:

• Long-term monitoring is crucial for understanding chronic conditions like stress and metabolic disorders.
• Digital phenotyping is established in humans but limited in rodent models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Digital Homecage (DHC) system for continuous, long-term behavioral monitoring in mice.
• To provide an open-source platform for detailed behavioral analysis in rodent research.

Main Methods:

• The DHC system integrates video, operant tasks, and wheel-running data for high-resolution behavioral recording.
• It monitors over 20 behavioral metrics, including sleep, grooming, and food choice, over weeks.

Main Results:

• The DHC system successfully captured circadian patterns in spontaneous mouse behaviors.
• Data consistently reflected typical nocturnal activity, validating system accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The DHC system enables longitudinal analysis of chronic conditions and neuropsychiatric syndromes in mice.
• Its open-source and modular design fosters innovation in studying complex brain-behavior relationships.