This technology describes a cup design for head-fixed experiments that places mice in an upright position for improved forelimb posture during complex motor activities.
Current protocols for training mice in head-fixed behavior place them inside horizontal tubes in a quadruped position, bearing weight on both fore and hindlimbs. Under this restrictive posture, mouse forelimb range of motion is impeded, and fine motor control is restricted. Therefore, existing head-fixed devices constrain the complex motor control movements for which they are designed to study and limit the analysis of motor learning and control.
This technology alters the posture of head-fixed mice and reduces the weight on forelimbs for improved control and larger degree of forelimb motion. The cup design allows the animal to sit in a perched position and perform maximal forelimb movements, thus enabling more sophisticated characterization of fine motor control during head-fixed studies and improved interrogation of behavioral paradigms. The technology optimizes head-fixed mouse posture for studying the neural activity underlying complex motor behaviors.
This technology has been validated in skilled action learning experiments in head-fixed mice.
Helio F.M. Rodrigues
IR CU21353
Licensing Contact: Alex Turo