Movies and Media
Below are movie clips and
various other media demonstrating many of the behavioral tests used in our lab,
applied to various disease models. Many of the clips below have been mentioned in some of our recent publications.
Parkinson’s disease models
Sonograms and slowdown wavfiles of 6-OHDA vs. control male rat mating calls (MOV)
This panel compares the mating USV calls between a representing control rat versus a dopamine (DA) depleted rat. The quality of the call, including bandwidth and intensity, is significantly degraded in the DA depleted rat.
Cylinder test following
oral Sinemet (JPG)
The graph shows scores in
the limb-use asymmetry (“cylinder”) test following an oral dose of Sinemet in unilaterally
6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. Sinemet
reverses the limb-use deficit to produce more symmetric limb use in the
cylinder.
Correlation: dopamine
depletion and cylinder asymmetry (JPG)
This graph shows the
relationship between degree of unilateral dopamine depletion and performance in
the limb-use asymmetry (“cylinder”) test, demonstrating that this test is
sensitive enough to detect dopamine depletions as small as 30%.
The passive initiation
threshold (PIT) test (MPG1 MPG2 MPG3
PPT)
Note: To view this demo, download all four files into
the same directory, run the PowerPoint file, and click on the images to run the
movies. This sequence of movies demonstrates the PIT test in
a unilaterally dopamine-depleted animal, showing that the unimpaired limb
ipsilateral to the lesion becomes more reactive to experimenter-imposed shifts
in the rat’s center of gravity.
Resting tremor in a rat (WMV MPG)
A unilaterally
dopamine-depleted rat displaying resting tremor in the affected forelimb.
A unilaterally
dopamine-depleted rat displaying akinesia in the affected forelimb in the
akinesia test.
A 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned
rat displaying dyskinesias.
Hindlimb akinesia (MPG)
A rat displaying akinesia in
the hindlimb opposite a unilateral dopamine depletion.
Vibrissae-elicited
forelimb placing: 6-OHDA (MPG)
A unilaterally
dopamine-depleted rat fails to place the forelimb contralateral to the lesion.
Novel Odor Recognition Test
Novel Odor Preference (MP4)
This movie shows the first exposure of a rat to a novel-odor in our odor recognition test. This rat demonstrates a novel-odor preference as it preferentially explores the novel-odor (far right wood bead) in the presence of three familiar odors (left three wood beads).
Stroke models
Rat on the ledged tapered
beam (JPG)
A rat displaying full left
forelimb and hindlimb faults while traversing along a beam in the ledged
tapered beam test.
Ledged tapered beam test –
middle cerebral artery occlusion (MOV)
A rat displaying footfaults
in the ledged tapered beam test after sustaining occlusion of the middle
cerebral artery.
Limb-use asymmetry (“cylinder”)
test (WMV MPG)
A rat engaging in vertical
exploratory activity in the limb-use asymmetry test.
Hindlimb faults in the
ledged tapered beam test (MPG)
Rats displaying faults in
the ledged tapered beam test.
Vibrissae-elicited
forelimb placing: ET-1 (MPG)
A rat sustaining unilateral
motor cortical damage via application of endothelin-1 shows some placing
deficits in the contralateral limb.
Normal rats & miscellaneous
Reaching test – normal rat (WMV MPG)
An unlesioned rat reaching
for pellets in the Whishaw reaching task.
Ledged tapered beam test –
normal rat (MPG)
An unlesioned rat traversing
the beam in the ledged tapered beam task
