Darting behavior: a quantitative movement pattern designed for discrimination and replicability in mouse locomotor behavior

• Published in: Behavioural brain research Vol. 142; no. 1; pp. 193 - 205
• Main Authors: Kafkafi, Neri, Pagis, Michal, Lipkind, Dina, Mayo, Cheryl L., Bemjamini, Yoav, Golani, Ilan, Elmer, Gregory I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 16-06-2003; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Amphetamine; Amphetamine - pharmacology; Animal ethology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; C57BL/6; Cocaine; Cocaine - pharmacology; Computational Biology - methods; Databases as Topic; DBA/2; Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electronic Data Processing - methods; Exploratory behavior; Exploratory Behavior - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Inbred strains; Locomotor behavior; Male; Mammalia; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred DBA; Mice, Inbred Strains; Models, Biological; Motor Activity - drug effects; Open-field behavior; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Reproducibility of Results; SEE; Sensitivity and Specificity; Software; Software Design; Software Validation; Vertebrata; SEE; Inbred strains; Amphetamine; Exploratory behavior; Locomotor behavior; Cocaine; DBA/2; Open-field behavior; C57BL/6; Amphetamine derivatives; Methodology; Rodentia; Open field behavior; Locomotion; Vertebrata; Animal activity; Mammalia; Spontaneous physical activity; Investigation method; Mouse; Animal; Drug of abuse; Computer aided analysis
• DOI: 10.1016/S0166-4328(03)00003-2
• EISSN: 1872-7549
• ISSN: 0166-4328

In the open-field behavior of rodents, Software for Exploring Exploration (SEE) can be used for an explicit design of behavioral endpoints with high genotype discrimination and replicability across laboratories. This ability is demonstrated here in the development of a measure for darting behavior. The behavior of two common mouse inbred strains, C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2), was analyzed across three different laboratories, and under the effect of cocaine or amphetamine. “Darting” was defined as having higher acceleration during progression segments while moving less during stops. D2 mice darted significantly more than B6 mice in each laboratory, despite being significantly less active. These differences were maintained following cocaine administration (up to 20
mg/kg) and only slightly altered by amphetamine (up to 5
mg/kg) despite a several fold increase in activity. The replicability of darting behavior was confirmed in additional experiments distinct from those used for its design. The strategy leading to the darting measure may be used to develop additional discriminative and replicable endpoints of open-field behavior.