An 8-cage imaging system for automated analyses of mouse behavior

The analysis of mouse behavior is used in biomedical research to study brain function in health and disease. Well-established rapid assays allow for high-throughput analyses of behavior but have several drawbacks, including measurements of daytime behaviors in a nocturnal animal, effects of animal handling, and the lack of an acclimation period in the testing apparatus. We developed a novel 8-cage imaging system, with animated visual stimuli, for automated analyses of mouse behavior in 22-hour overnight recordings. Software for image analysis was developed in two open-source programs, ImageJ and DeepLabCut. The imaging system was used to measure multiple behaviors, including acclimation to the novel cage environment, day and nighttime activity, stretch-attend postures, location in various cage areas, and habituation to animated visual stimuli. These behaviors were summarized in behavioral profiles, which may be used in further studies to examine treatments for neural disorders.