Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice
Laboratory mice are predominantly used for one experiment only, i.e., new mice are ordered or bred for every new experiment. Moreover, most experiments use relatively young mice in the range of late adolescence to early adulthood. As a consequence, little is known about the day-to-day life of adult...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.709775/full |
| _version_ | 1819078833670717440 |
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| author | Pia Kahnau Anja Guenther Marcus Nicolaas Boon Marcus Nicolaas Boon Janine Denise Terzenbach Eric Hanitzsch Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Vera Brust |
| author_facet | Pia Kahnau Anja Guenther Marcus Nicolaas Boon Marcus Nicolaas Boon Janine Denise Terzenbach Eric Hanitzsch Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Vera Brust |
| author_sort | Pia Kahnau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Laboratory mice are predominantly used for one experiment only, i.e., new mice are ordered or bred for every new experiment. Moreover, most experiments use relatively young mice in the range of late adolescence to early adulthood. As a consequence, little is known about the day-to-day life of adult and aged laboratory mice. Here we present a long-term data set with three consecutive phases conducted with the same male mice over their lifetime in order to shed light on possible long-term effects of repeated cognitive stimulation. One third of the animals was trained by a variety of learning tasks conducted up to an age of 606 days. The mice were housed in four cages with 12 animals per cage; only four mice per cage had to repeatedly solve cognitive tasks for getting access to water using the IntelliCage system. In addition, these learner mice were tested in standard cognitive tests outside their home-cage. The other eight mice served as two control groups living in the same environment but without having to solve tasks for getting access to water. One control group was additionally placed on the test set-ups without having to learn the tasks. Next to the cognitive tasks, we took physiological measures (body mass, resting metabolic rate) and tested for dominance behavior, and attractivity in a female choice experiment. Overall, the mice were under surveillance until they died a natural death, providing a unique data set over the course of virtually their entire lives. Our data showed treatment differences during the first phase of our lifetime data set. Young learner mice showed a higher activity, less growth and resting metabolic rate, and were less attractive for female mice. These effects, however, were not preserved over the long-term. We also did not find differences in dominance or effects on longevity. However, we generated a unique and valuable set of long-term behavioral and physiological data from a single group of male mice and note that our long-term data contribute to a better understanding of the behavioral and physiological processes in male C57Bl/6J mice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T19:19:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-454739cda62641ed8c48d60911646724 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T19:19:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-454739cda62641ed8c48d609116467242022-12-21T18:52:59ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532021-09-011510.3389/fnbeh.2021.709775709775Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male MicePia Kahnau0Anja Guenther1Marcus Nicolaas Boon2Marcus Nicolaas Boon3Janine Denise Terzenbach4Eric Hanitzsch5Lars Lewejohann6Lars Lewejohann7Vera Brust8Laboratory Animal Science, German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, GermanyDepartment for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Modeling of Cognitive Processes, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyExzellenzcluster Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyBehavioral Phenotyping Unit, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, GermanyBehavioral Phenotyping Unit, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, GermanyLaboratory Animal Science, German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R), German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Berlin, GermanyAnimal Behavior and Laboratory Animal Science, Institute of Animal Welfare, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyBehavioral Phenotyping Unit, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, GermanyLaboratory mice are predominantly used for one experiment only, i.e., new mice are ordered or bred for every new experiment. Moreover, most experiments use relatively young mice in the range of late adolescence to early adulthood. As a consequence, little is known about the day-to-day life of adult and aged laboratory mice. Here we present a long-term data set with three consecutive phases conducted with the same male mice over their lifetime in order to shed light on possible long-term effects of repeated cognitive stimulation. One third of the animals was trained by a variety of learning tasks conducted up to an age of 606 days. The mice were housed in four cages with 12 animals per cage; only four mice per cage had to repeatedly solve cognitive tasks for getting access to water using the IntelliCage system. In addition, these learner mice were tested in standard cognitive tests outside their home-cage. The other eight mice served as two control groups living in the same environment but without having to solve tasks for getting access to water. One control group was additionally placed on the test set-ups without having to learn the tasks. Next to the cognitive tasks, we took physiological measures (body mass, resting metabolic rate) and tested for dominance behavior, and attractivity in a female choice experiment. Overall, the mice were under surveillance until they died a natural death, providing a unique data set over the course of virtually their entire lives. Our data showed treatment differences during the first phase of our lifetime data set. Young learner mice showed a higher activity, less growth and resting metabolic rate, and were less attractive for female mice. These effects, however, were not preserved over the long-term. We also did not find differences in dominance or effects on longevity. However, we generated a unique and valuable set of long-term behavioral and physiological data from a single group of male mice and note that our long-term data contribute to a better understanding of the behavioral and physiological processes in male C57Bl/6J mice.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.709775/fulllaboratory micecognitionIntelliCagelifetime observationresting metabolic rate |
| spellingShingle | Pia Kahnau Anja Guenther Marcus Nicolaas Boon Marcus Nicolaas Boon Janine Denise Terzenbach Eric Hanitzsch Lars Lewejohann Lars Lewejohann Vera Brust Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience laboratory mice cognition IntelliCage lifetime observation resting metabolic rate |
| title | Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice |
| title_full | Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice |
| title_fullStr | Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice |
| title_short | Lifetime Observation of Cognition and Physiological Parameters in Male Mice |
| title_sort | lifetime observation of cognition and physiological parameters in male mice |
| topic | laboratory mice cognition IntelliCage lifetime observation resting metabolic rate |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.709775/full |
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