The footfault test as a screening tool in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat model of Parkinson's disease.

The administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nigrostriatal pathway is a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD). The footfault test is a behavioural task in which rodents have their motor functions assessed. Here, we observed that unilaterally 6-OHDA-lesioned animals show a context-induced ipsilateral rotational behaviour when placed on the footfault apparatus for 3 min and this may be used as index to detect lesioned animals. Our results showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% for lesions higher than 94% and 64%, respectively (ROC curve: AUC=0.988). A binary logistic regression model showed an expB=1.116 (95% CI, 1.007-1.236) and C=-9.081+/-4.554 (p=0.046) using the nigral tyrosine hidroxylase immunocontent as standard (each unit represents a 10%-lesion extension). Additionally, the footfault test was more sensitive than apomorphine challenging at 1mg/kg when these tests were carried out days apart and it was less sensitive than methylphenidate at 40 mg/kg (sign test, p<0.05). Therefore, the footfault test may be very useful in the PD animal model for screening animals since it is fast and simple and it does not require a drug to induce rotational activity.

A new tracking system for the measurement of diel locomotor rhythms in the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.).

The Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.), is a deep-water burrowing decapod of high commercial value. Diel variations in trawl captures are produced by population rhythms of burrow emergences related to day-night cycles. Rhythms seem to be different in males and females since catches show variations in sex ratios depending on the season. Our hypothesis is that the diel rhythm of activity in this species can be distinguished in three different behavioural sets, the durations of which show gender-related modulation: door-keeping, proximal-, and distal-emergence from the burrow. Our aim is to detail the functioning of a new tracking system allowing the durations of these three behavioural components to be determined. Movement of animals was detected by subdividing aquaria into different zones by means of three rows of infrared-emitting and -receiving photodiodes in which blue light emitters were also integrated for the generation of light cycles. We recorded movement patterns in adult males and females (n=20) exposed to a standard photoperiod regime (i.e., 12 h; monochromatic at 480 nm of 5 lx) over 12 days. Marked diel nocturnal rhythms were reported at all barriers, with activity peaks diffused over the night at the burrow entrance and located at the day-night transition at other barriers (i.e., crepuscular peaks that decreased in the next few hours of darkness). Mean total activity was significantly higher for females than males at the burrow entrance (i.e., door-keeping behaviour). Males had significantly higher activity at other locations (proximal- and distal-emergence behaviours).

Effects of estrous stage and time of day on prepulse inhibition in female rats.

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response is a measure of sensory motor gating, and is affected in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Although PPI has been used extensively to study both the neural effects of such conditions, as well as in the search for animal models, a number of critical issues have been encountered. Published methods for testing PPI vary widely across many parameters, two of the most common being the phase of the light/dark cycle during which the subjects are tested and the inclusion or exclusion of females. While previous research has attempted to clarify the effect of these factors, results for both human and animal studies have often been contradictory. This study investigated the relevance of the estrous cycle and time of day as variables that may influence PPI in adult female Sprague-Dawley rats. Results indicate that PPI is not affected by estrous phase, but may be affected by the time of day of testing, particularly at higher prepulse levels. At the 86 dBs prepulse level, rats tested during the light phase of the light/dark cycle displayed significantly lowered PPI as compared to the animals tested during the dark phase. Additionally, other measures such as baseline startle, habituation and activity during testing did not vary across the estrous or light cycles. These findings indicate that while estrous phase does not have any effect on PPI in female Sprague-Dawley rats when tested under these parameters, the time of day during which testing occurs does have the potential to alter PPI.

A novel automated rat catalepsy bar test system based on a RISC microcontroller.

Catalepsy tests performed in rodents treated with drugs that interfere with dopaminergic transmission have been widely used for the screening of drugs with therapeutic potential in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The basic method for measuring catalepsy intensity is the "standard" bar test. We present here an easy to use microcontroller-based automatic system for recording bar test experiments. The design is simple, compact, and has a low cost. Recording intervals and total experimental time can be programmed within a wide range of values. The resulting catalepsy times are stored, and up to five simultaneous experiments can be recorded. A standard personal computer interface is included. The automated system also permits the elimination of human error associated with factors such as fatigue, distraction, and data transcription, occurring during manual recording. Furthermore, a uniform criterion for timing the cataleptic condition can be achieved. Correlation values between the results obtained with the automated system and those reported by two independent observers ranged between 0.88 and 0.99 (P<0.0001; three treatments, nine animals, 144 catalepsy time measurements).

Assessment of developmental milestones in rodents.

Developmental tests are used to characterize early markers of behavior for investigation of the neurobiology of these behaviors, and to assess the impact of early prenatal or postnatal insult. These perturbations may include pharmacological, environmental, and genetic manipulations. At birth the rat is capable of some specific activities, but its movements are uncoordinated and seemingly random, its tactile sensitivity is not fully developed, and its ear canals and eyes remain closed until several days after birth. Postnatal development consists mainly of the continuation of processes begun earlier. This unit presents protocols for the most commonly used animal tests of developmental reflexology, including negative geotaxis, cliff avoidance, placing responses, tactile and acoustic startle responses, surface and air righting reflexes, crossed extensor reflex, rooting reflex, grasp reflex, bar holding, and horizontal and vertical screen tests.

Cued and contextual fear conditioning in mice.

Contextual and cued fear conditioning is a robust form of learning in which an association is made between stimuli and their aversive consequences. Fear conditioning has been used in laboratory rodents in part because it is a highly conserved form of behavior that is exhibited in both laboratory situations and in normal environments. Training requires only a single trial and this makes it adaptable to genetic, pharmacological, and biochemical studies. Clinically, it is has relevance to human behavior in that fear conditioning can be produced in humans, and damage to the amygdala prevents fear conditioning.

Assessment of murine startle reactivity, prepulse inhibition, and habituation.

The study of the startle response and its plasticity provides a powerful research paradigm for examining the neural control of behavior. The neural substrates underlying phenomena such as information-processing functions, including sensorimotor gating, affective modulation, and habituation, can be studied using startle plasticity as an operational measure. The mouse is rapidly becoming the most powerful model system for the study of human CNS function and is highly amenable to both genetic and pharmacological study. This unit describes procedures for the assessment of the startle response to acoustic stimuli in mice; methods for assessing prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle, with treatments including drug administration and genetic manipulation; and methods for testing habituation.

Dança meditativa e caixa de areia associadas á análise verbal como técnica facilitadora de integraçäo de processos simbólicos / Meditative dance and sand box associated with the verbal analysis as a facilitating technique of simbolic process integration

O trabalho proposto parte dos conhecimentos teóricos e clínicos da Psicologia Junguiana, acrescidos da experiência resultante do uso de vivências expressivas n o verbais no processo psicoterapêutico. Através do estudo de três casos clínicos é apresentado um procedimento terapêutico específico de Dança Medidativa e Caixa de Areia associadas á Análise Verbal para ser avaliada a facilitaçäo da integraçäo de processos interiores na conciência dos pacientes. As vivências expressivas podem evocar símbolos capazes de transformar uma situaçäo, desde que compreendidos e intergrados de na conciência. Nestes casos ficou evidente que as séries de imagens simbólicas que surgiram nos sonhos, nos desenhos, nas Caixas de Areia e também durante a mivimentaçäo formavam, ao longo de seu desenvolvimento, uma mensagem abrangente e compreensível, possível de ser assimilada pela conciência.