title: Darting behavior: a quantitative movement pattern designed for discrimination and replicability in mouse locomotor behavior.
abstract: In the open-field behavior of rodents, Software for Exploring Exploration (SEE) can be used for an explicit design of behavioral endpoints with high genotype discrimination and replicability across laboratories. This ability is demonstrated here in the development of a measure for darting behavior. The behavior of two common mouse inbred strains, C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2), was analyzed across three different laboratories, and under the effect of cocaine or amphetamine. "Darting" was defined as having higher acceleration during progression segments while moving less during stops. D2 mice darted significantly more than B6 mice in each laboratory, despite being significantly less active. These differences were maintained following cocaine administration (up to 20mg/kg) and only slightly altered by amphetamine (up to 5mg/kg) despite a several fold increase in activity. The replicability of darting behavior was confirmed in additional experiments distinct from those used for its design. The strategy leading to the darting measure may be used to develop additional discriminative and replicable endpoints of open-field behavior.
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, The Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Bldg. C, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. nkafkaki@intra.nida.nih.gov
authors.forename: Neri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kafkafi
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pagis
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lipkind
authors.forename: Cheryl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bemjamini
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Golani
authors.forename: Gregory I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Elmer
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D019992:Databases as Topic; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000379:methods; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008954:Models, Biological; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D012986:Software Validation
chemical_list: D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D000661:Amphetamine; D003042:Cocaine