title: A new video/computer method to measure the amount of overall movement in experimental animals (two-dimensional object-difference method).
abstract: Evaluation of the amount of overall animal movement is important for investigations of motor control mechanisms in the central nervous system. We describe a new method to quantify overall free movements of an animal without any markers using a video camera and a personal computer equipped with a video-capture board. The operating principle is that the amount of overall movement of an object can be expressed by the difference in total area occupied by the object in two consecutive picture frames. The software for this application operates in real-time. Using this method and with proper setting for the cage and recording view, we can estimate three-dimensional movements of animals. The major advantages are low cost, easy operation and high sensitivity. The experimental results indicate that this method can be applied to various fields of motion analysis.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Shinshu University, Asahi, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Izawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moriizumi
mesh_terms: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002144:Callithrix; D016248:Computer Storage Devices; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015259:Dopamine Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; D001058:Apomorphine