Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, United Kingdom.
J Biol Rhythms. 2012 Feb;27(1):48-58. doi: 10.1177/0748730411431550.
Sleep is a fundamental biological rhythm involving the interaction of numerous brain structures and diverse neurotransmitter systems. The primary measures used to define sleep are the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG). However, EEG-based methods are often unsuitable for use in high-throughput screens as they are time-intensive and involve invasive surgery. As such, the dissection of sleep mechanisms and the discovery of novel drugs that modulate sleep would benefit greatly from further development of rapid behavioral assays to assess sleep in animal models. Here is described an automated noninvasive approach to evaluate sleep duration, latency, and fragmentation using video tracking of mice in their home cage. This approach provides a high correlation with EEG/EMG measures under both baseline conditions and following administration of pharmacological agents. Moreover, the dose-dependent effects of sedatives, stimulants, and light can be readily detected. This approach is robust yet relatively inexpensive to implement and can be easily incorporated into ongoing screening programs to provide a powerful first-pass screen for assessing sleep and allied behaviors.
睡眠是一种基本的生物节律，涉及到许多大脑结构和不同神经递质系统的相互作用。用于定义睡眠的主要方法是脑电图（EEG）和肌电图（EMG）。然而，基于 EEG 的方法通常不适合用于高通量筛选，因为它们耗时且涉及侵入性手术。因此，对睡眠机制的剖析和发现调节睡眠的新型药物将极大地受益于进一步开发快速行为测定法来评估动物模型中的睡眠。这里描述了一种自动的非侵入性方法，使用视频跟踪小鼠在其家笼中的活动来评估睡眠持续时间、潜伏期和碎片化。这种方法与 EEG/EMG 测量在基线条件下和给药后都具有高度相关性。此外，镇静剂、兴奋剂和光的剂量依赖性效应可以很容易地检测到。这种方法稳健且相对廉价，易于实施，并可轻松纳入正在进行的筛选计划，为评估睡眠和相关行为提供有力的初步筛选。
