Institut Pasteur, Unité d'Analyse d'Images Quantitative, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité de Recherche Associée 2582, Paris, France.
Nat Methods. 2012 Mar 4;9(4):410-7. doi: 10.1038/nmeth.1924.
The study of social interactions in mice is used as a model for normal and pathological cognitive and emotional processes. But extracting comprehensive behavioral information from videos of interacting mice is still a challenge. We describe a computerized method and software, MiceProfiler, that uses geometrical primitives to model and track two mice without requiring any specific tagging. The program monitors a comprehensive repertoire of behavioral states and their temporal evolution, allowing the identification of key elements that trigger social contact. Using MiceProfiler we studied the role of neuronal nicotinic receptors in the establishment of social interactions and risk-prone postures. We found that the duration and type of social interactions with a conspecific evolves differently over time in mice lacking neuronal nicotinic receptors (Chrnb2-/-, here called β2(-/-)), compared to C57BL/6J mice, and identified a new type of coordinated posture, called back-to-back posture, that we rarely observed in β2(-/-) mice.
在小鼠中研究社交互动可作为正常和病理性认知及情绪过程的模型。但从互动小鼠的视频中提取全面的行为信息仍然是一个挑战。我们描述了一种计算机化的方法和软件 MiceProfiler，它使用几何基元对两只没有特定标记的小鼠进行建模和跟踪。该程序监测了全面的行为状态及其时间演变，从而可以确定引发社交接触的关键要素。使用 MiceProfiler，我们研究了神经元烟碱受体在建立社交互动和冒险姿势中的作用。我们发现，缺乏神经元烟碱受体（Chrnb2-/-, 此处称为β2(-/-))的小鼠与 C57BL/6J 小鼠相比，同种小鼠之间的社交互动持续时间和类型随时间的变化不同，并且确定了一种新的协调姿势，称为背靠背姿势，我们在β2(-/-)小鼠中很少观察到这种姿势。
