NDLI: Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Jun, James J. Longtin, André Maler, Leonard
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	Long-term behavioral tracking can capture and quantify natural animal behaviors, including those occurring infrequently. Behaviors such as exploration and social interactions can be best studied by observing unrestrained, freely behaving animals. Weakly electric fish (WEF) display readily observable exploratory and social behaviors by emitting electric organ discharge (EOD). Here, we describe three effective techniques to synchronously measure the EOD, body position, and posture of a free-swimming WEF for an extended period of time. First, we describe the construction of an experimental tank inside of an isolation chamber designed to block external sources of sensory stimuli such as light, sound, and vibration. The aquarium was partitioned to accommodate four test specimens, and automated gates remotely control the animals' access to the central arena. Second, we describe a precise and reliable real-time EOD timing measurement method from freely swimming WEF. Signal distortions caused by the animal's body movements are corrected by spatial averaging and temporal processing stages. Third, we describe an underwater near-infrared imaging setup to observe unperturbed nocturnal animal behaviors. Infrared light pulses were used to synchronize the timing between the video and the physiological signal over a long recording duration. Our automated tracking software measures the animal's body position and posture reliably in an aquatic scene. In combination, these techniques enable long term observation of spontaneous behavior of freely swimming weakly electric fish in a reliable and precise manner. We believe our method can be similarly applied to the study of other aquatic animals by relating their physiological signals with exploratory or social behaviors.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/50962
Starting Page	50962
File Format	PDF
ISSN	1940087X
e-ISSN	1940087X
Journal	Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE
Issue Number	85
Language	English
Publisher	MyJove Corporation
Publisher Date	2014-03-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	MyJove Corporation
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Immunology and Microbiology(all) Chemical Engineering(all) Neuroscience(all) Medicine(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Neuroscience Immunology and Microbiology Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Chemical Engineering

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

Quantitative Locomotion Study of Freely Swimming Micro-organisms Using Laser Diffraction

Automatic Realistic Real Time Stimulation/Recording in Weakly Electric Fish: Long Time Behavior Characterization in Freely Swimming Fish and Stimuli Discrimination

Mouse Short- and Long-term Locomotor Activity Analyzed by Video Tracking Software

C. elegans Tracking and Behavioral Measurement

Swimming Performance Assessment in Fishes

C. elegans Positive Butanone Learning, Short-term, and Long-term Associative Memory Assays

Long-term Imaging Mammalian Cells using Wide-Field Microscopy

Isolation and long-term culture expansion of tumor-specific endothelial cells

Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Similar Documents

Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

Quantitative Locomotion Study of Freely Swimming Micro-organisms Using Laser Diffraction

Automatic Realistic Real Time Stimulation/Recording in Weakly Electric Fish: Long Time Behavior Characterization in Freely Swimming Fish and Stimuli Discrimination

Mouse Short- and Long-term Locomotor Activity Analyzed by Video Tracking Software

C. elegans Tracking and Behavioral Measurement

Swimming Performance Assessment in Fishes

C. elegans Positive Butanone Learning, Short-term, and Long-term Associative Memory Assays

Long-term Imaging Mammalian Cells using Wide-Field Microscopy

Isolation and long-term culture expansion of tumor-specific endothelial cells

Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish