Université Laval, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Quebec, Canada; CERVO Brain Research Centre, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Université Laval, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Quebec, Canada; CERVO Brain Research Centre, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
J Neurosci Methods. 2024 Oct;410:110221. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2024.110221. Epub 2024 Jul 23.
Proper hydration is essential for maintaining health and supports various biological processes, including temperature regulation, immune function, nutrient delivery, and organ function. Visual assessment has traditionally been used to quantify liquid intake, although technological advances in optical and electrical sensors now offer higher accuracy and larger potential for automatic operation with millisecond precision and individual lick resolution.
We describe an inexpensive electronic sensor board to monitor mouse licking behavior. The system is equipped with integrated filtering and data preprocessing steps. It measures lick count, frequency, width and interlick intervals with high resolution, allowing the real-time monitoring of complex licking patterns in several mice in their respective home cages over prolonged periods.
Our lickometer provides two-millisecond resolution, efficiently detecting variations in licking behaviors in mice. The system is adapted to monitor licking behaviors in up to 12 mice simultaneously. Lick count, duration and interlick intervals, along with preference for sweet water were monitored over two days, revealing variations in licking patterns across light and dark phases extended over prolonged periods.
Our lickometer allows for monitoring licking behaviors and dynamics. It can be adapted to conventional mouse cages using electrical circuits. It is open-source, cost-effective, efficient, and can be utilized in real-time for large cohorts, representing an ideal tool for studying ingestive dynamics in different environmental and pathological contexts.
We have developed a novel, cost-effective, and efficient device to monitor ingestive behaviors in mice. The throughput of our device allows for monitoring several mice simultaneously while it can be applied directly to a conventional mouse cage, simplifying its implementation into pre-existing experimental setups.
适当的水合作用对于维持健康至关重要，支持各种生物过程，包括体温调节、免疫功能、营养物质输送和器官功能。传统上，视觉评估被用于量化液体摄入，尽管光学和电气传感器的技术进步现在提供了更高的准确性和更大的自动操作潜力，精度可达毫秒级，能够逐个解析舔舐行为。
我们描述了一种用于监测小鼠舔舐行为的廉价电子传感器板。该系统配备了集成的滤波和数据预处理步骤。它可以高分辨率地测量舔舐次数、频率、宽度和舔舐间隔，允许实时监测多个小鼠在其各自的笼中长时间的复杂舔舐模式。
我们的舔舐计数器提供两毫秒的分辨率，能够有效地检测小鼠舔舐行为的变化。该系统可适应同时监测多达 12 只小鼠的舔舐行为。在两天的时间里，监测了舔舐次数、持续时间和舔舐间隔，以及对甜水的偏好，揭示了长时间内光暗阶段舔舐模式的变化。
我们的舔舐计数器允许监测舔舐行为和动态。它可以使用电路适应传统的小鼠笼。它是开源的、具有成本效益的、高效的，并且可以实时用于大群体，是在不同环境和病理背景下研究摄食动力学的理想工具。
我们开发了一种新颖的、具有成本效益的、高效的设备来监测小鼠的摄食行为。我们的设备的吞吐量允许同时监测多只小鼠，同时可以直接应用于传统的小鼠笼中，简化了其在现有实验设置中的实施。
