Mobility (Open Field Activity)
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The Photobeam Activity System (San Diego Instruments, San Diego, CA) is used to monitor mobility. This system records activity as a sum of photobeam breaks set in a 4x7 grid within a set period over a defined period of time. The current system is configured to accommodate one cage per session and is comprised of a lower, mobility grid and an upper, rearing activity grid. Both nocturnal and daylight activity can be assessed as the number of ambulations per hour. However, we have found a simple 5 minute activity paradigm can distinguish genotypes of mice at older ages. Mobility is therefore assessed for a five-minute period on three consecutive test days. All data is recorded by San Diego Instruments Software, and can be exported to Microsoft Excel of Access databases.
| Variables |
| Phase length |
| Fine (partial) beam breaks versus actual (complete) beam breaks |
| Running 2 mice simultaneously on only the mobility grid, OR 1 mouse on both mobility and rearing activity grids |
| Running 1 mouse up to 24 continuous hours. |
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