Cylinder Test to Assess Sensory-motor Function in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease
[Abstract] Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder that happens due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The deficiency of dopamine in the basal nuclei drives cardinal motor symptoms such as bradykinesia and hypokinesia. The current protocol describes the cylinder test, which is a relatively simple ...
Whisker Nuisance Test: A Valuable Tool to Assess Tactile Hypersensitivity in Mice
[Abstract] Abnormal response to tactile stimulation, described as both hyper- and hypo-reactivity, is a common sensory impairment in multiple neuropsychiatric disorders. The neural bases of tactile sensitivity remain so far unknown. In the last years, animal studies have proven to be useful for shedding light on the cellular and molecular mechanism ...
Accessing Olfactory Habituation in Drosophila melanogaster with a T-maze Paradigm
[Abstract] Habituation is the process whereby perceptual changes alter the value of environmental stimuli, enabling salience filtering. This behavioral response decrement is a form of non-associative learning, where the subject learns about the stimulus and does not involve sensory adaptation, sensory or motor fatigue. The range of behavioral responses in D. ...
A Mouse Model of Postoperative Pain
Authors: Ashley M. Cowie and
Cheryl L. Stucky,
date: 01/20/2019,
view: 2305,
Q&A: 0
[Abstract] Postoperative pain is highly debilitating and hinders recovery. Opioids are the main pain medication used for acute postoperative pain. Given the devastating opioid addiction and overdose epidemic across the US, non-opioid pain therapeutics are desperately needed. In order to develop novel, non-opioid therapies for the treatment of postoperative ...
Artificial Inhalation Protocol in Adult Mice
Authors: Thomas P. Eiting and
Matt Wachowiak,
date: 09/20/2018,
view: 1450,
Q&A: 0
[Abstract] Research in the area of in vivo olfactory physiology benefits from having direct access to the nasal airways through which odorants can be presented. Ordinarily, the passage of odorants through the airways is controlled by respiratory rhythm. This fact makes it difficult to control the timing and strength of an olfactory stimulus, since ...
A Fluorescent Dye Method Suitable for Visualization of One or More Rat Whiskers
[Abstract] Visualization and tracking of the facial whiskers is critical to many studies of rodent behavior. High-speed videography is the most robust methodology for characterizing whisker kinematics, but whisker visualization is challenging due to the low contrast of the whisker against its background. Recently, we showed that fluorescent dye(s) can be ...
Assaying Thermo-nociceptive Behavior in Drosophila Larvae
[Abstract] Thermo-nociception, the detection and behavioral response to noxious temperatures, is a highly conserved action to avoid injury and ensure survival. Basic molecular mechanisms of thermal responses have been elucidated in several model organisms and are of clinical relevance as thermal hypersensitivity (thermos-allodynia) is common in neuropathic ...
Assaying Mechanonociceptive Behavior in Drosophila Larvae
[Abstract] Drosophila melanogaster larvae have been extensively used as a model to study the molecular and cellular basis of nociception. The larval nociceptors, class IV dendritic arborization (C4da) neurons, line the body wall of the animal and respond to various stimuli including noxious heat and touch. Activation of C4da neurons results in a ...