Background
Social interactions are social activities that must be performed daily by social animals, including humans. Many experimental results show that good social interaction has positive effects on people or animals, while short social isolation can cause anxiety in people or animals, and long social isolation can greatly increase the risk of mental diseases. Therefore, the method has very important significance for social interaction, especially social research on subjective willingness.
The most representative of experiments in which animal socialization was studied were three-box social experiments. Although the experimental model can be used for analyzing the social behaviors of the animals, the analyzed data includes the time when the animals stay in a certain area and the time when the animals sniff, the former cannot accurately distinguish the blind exploration behaviors and the active social behaviors of the animals, and the latter has the subjectivity of experimenters.
The research on the psychophysiological mechanisms behind social behaviors is also the focus of scientific research. The animal can well help explain the neurobiology mechanism behind social behaviors through real-time in-vivo electrophysiological electroencephalogram recording and post analysis under the waking free activity state. However, in the social process, along with the dynamic change of the psychological state, the animal brain electricity also has dynamic change. How to subdivide the psychological change in the whole social process, further subdivide the dynamic change of the electroencephalogram, and then further explain the dynamic change process of the electroencephalogram is a big problem in the field at present, and no experimental device or experimental paradigm related to the method is applied to research the autonomous social behaviors of animals.
In view of the above problems, further improvements to the social behavior testing device are needed, and a social behavior testing device and an experimental paradigm driven by the social willingness of the rodent are designed.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to solve the technical problem of providing a device for testing the autonomous social behaviors of small animals based on the driving of the social willingness of rodents, and an experimental method applying the device.
The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the technical problems is as follows: the utility model provides a toy is social action testing arrangement independently, includes the test bin, two outer walls are provided with leading thing pipe, after-placement thing pipe respectively around the test bin, leading thing pipe and after-placement thing pipe all separate through the iron wire screen with the test bin is inside, the export that test bin was kept away from to leading thing pipe and after-placement thing pipe can be sealed, be provided with guide slot, overhead door and the elevating system that can drive the overhead door and go up and down on the test bin lateral wall, elevating system includes the motor, and the overhead door both sides are inserted and are established in the guide slot, be provided with micro-gap switch on the test bin inner wall, micro-gap switch and elevating system electricity are connected, two micro-gap switch sets up the one side at two overhead doors respectively, micro-gap switch and counter electricity are connected, micro-gap switch, motor all are connected with gate control circuit electricity, gate control circuit includes the time delay disconnection relay, the relay, The testing device comprises a motor forward and reverse rotation controller, a delay conduction relay, a sliding rheostat and an infrared camera, wherein the infrared camera is placed at a position where the test bin, a front object pipe and a rear object pipe can be shot.
Further, elevating system includes slider, lead screw, plum blossom shaft coupling, motor, bearing fixing base, the slider is fixed on the overhead door outer wall, the slider middle part seted up with lead screw assorted screw hole, the slider cover is established on the lead screw, the lead screw lower extreme passes through the plum blossom shaft coupling and is connected with the motor, lead screw upper portion is fixed with the bearing, bearing and bearing fixing base are fixed, the bearing fixing base is fixed on the outer wall of test bin.
Further, the infrared camera and the video recording computer are electrically connected through a data transmission line.
An experimental method for applying the small animal autonomous social behavior testing device comprises the following basic steps:
step 1: randomly pairing a plurality of weaned-day-old SD rats by 4 cages, marking each rat, weighing and recording the weight of the rat, and feeding the rat in a constant-temperature and constant-humidity environment with reversed day and night after purchase to ensure that the feed and the drinking water are sufficiently supplied until the rat becomes adult;
step 2: placing a rat A into a test chamber, respectively placing a rat X and a rat Y which have the same sex as the rat A and are raised in different cages in a preposed tube and a postpositioned tube, wherein the heads of the rat X and the rat Y face a lifting door, grasping a front claw of the rat A and pressing a microswitch, repeating the steps for several times, placing the rat A in the test chamber for freely exploring, and repeating the steps for 7 days, wherein the rats in the preposed tube and the postpositioned tube are the rat X and the rat Y every day;
and step 3: after repeating for 7 days, resetting the counter to zero, starting the infrared camera and the video recording computer to record when no rat is placed in the prepositive and postpositive tubes, then placing the rat A into the test chamber, starting the counter to count, and enabling the rat A to adapt for 10 min;
and 4, step 4: after the adaptation is completed, recording data on two counters, then placing a rat B which is bred with the same sex as the rat A and in different cages into the preposed pipe, after the outlet of the preposed pipe is closed, allowing the rat A to freely move for 10min, and recording data on the two counters after 10 min; the step is the first stage of experiment;
and 5: changing the rat B in the prepositive pipe into a rat C with the same sex as the rat A, putting the rat B into the postpositive pipe, sealing the outlet of the postpositive pipe, allowing the rat A to freely move for 10min, and recording data on the two counters after 10 min; the step is the second stage of experiment;
step 6: after the recording is finished, storing the video, and after the recording is finished, putting the rat back into the rearing cage and cleaning the device;
and 7: according to the recorded counter data, calculating the times of pressing the micro-switch by the rat A in the steps 4 and 5, judging the social ability according to the ratio of the times of pressing the micro-switch by the rat A in the corresponding direction of the rat B in the step 4 to the sum of the times of pressing the two micro-switches, and if the ratio is large, testing the social ability of the animal; judging the social novelty preference according to the ratio of the number of times that the rat A presses the microswitch in the corresponding direction of the rat C to the sum of the number of times that the two microswitches are pressed in the step 5, and if the ratio is large, testing that the social novelty preference exists in the animal; observing the experimental video by using a manual timer, recording the sniffing time of the rat A after pressing the microswitch in the corresponding direction of the rat B in the step 4, and judging the social contact ability of the rat A, wherein the social contact ability of the rat A is strong if the time is long; judging the social novelty preference of the rat according to the ratio of the sniffing time of the rat A after pressing the microswitch in the corresponding direction of the rat C in the second stage of the experiment in the step 5 to the sum of the sniffing time after pressing the two microswitches, and if the ratio is large, testing that the animal has the social novelty preference.
Further, different from the basic steps, after the step 7 is completed, craniotomy is carried out on the rat A, electrodes are buried in a test brain area of the rat A, the rat A is kept after the operation is completed, the steps 2 to 7 are repeated after 7 days, the discharge condition of the rat A is synchronously recorded while the steps 2 to 7 are carried out, and the social behaviors of the test animal are explored through the in-vivo electrophysiological discharge condition of the rat A.
Further, unlike the basic steps, step 5 is replaced with: adjusting a gate control circuit to prolong the descending time of the lifting door, namely the rat A can not be opened by pressing the switch door within a period of time after the lifting door is closed; the desire degree of the test animal for the social activities is judged according to the time from the holding of the rat A to the giving up of the microswitch during the period that the door cannot be opened and the times that the rat A presses the microswitch in the corresponding direction of the rat B during the period that the door cannot be opened.
Further, unlike the basic procedure, the rats placed in the device tube during the experiment can be changed into other articles, and the degree of craving of the test animals for certain articles can be observed and judged.
Further, unlike the basic procedure, rat a is a socially impaired mouse.
Further, unlike the basic steps, the animals were acutely exposed to a drug the next day after step 5, followed by repeating steps 3 through 5.
Further, unlike the basic steps, step 4 is replaced with: respectively put into mouse and microphone in leading thing pipe, after putting the thing pipe, save step 5, step 7, judge that the animal is more afraid or preferred which kind of article according to the number of times that the animal pressed two switches respectively.
In addition, the above experiment can be referred to for the preference of a certain article.
Compared with the prior art, the device for testing the autonomous social behaviors of the small animals has the following beneficial effects:
1. according to the invention, through the arrangement of the gate control circuit, animals can socialize autonomously: according to the invention, the gate control circuit is innovatively applied to the social activities of the animals, the animals can only press the switch to perform the social activities, the subjective will of the animals is reflected, and the obtained data can better and more accurately reflect the social initiative of the animals.
2. Compared with other experimental paradigms for exploring animal social contact, the method provides a precise time point for pressing the switch in the electrophysiological data, and better explains the change of the neuroelectrophysiological result in the active social contact process of the animal and the psychological or behavioral significance of the neuroelectrophysiological result.
3. The invention comprises a gate control circuit, namely, the lifting of the door is realized by pressing a switch, the lifting time and the speed of the door can be regulated and controlled by changing the capacitance of a relay and the resistance value of a slide rheostat, and the parameters can be correspondingly regulated according to different experimental requirements. The circuit can be applied to other experiments with gating requirements, all related raw materials can be purchased on the market, and the circuit is simple to splice and very convenient and fast.
4. The invention can be used for researching the autonomous social behaviors of the animals and exploring the love degree of the animals to any articles, thereby developing a series of experiments.
5. The main parts of the test chamber and the like are detachable, the assembly is convenient, the cleaning is easy, the laboratory space is not occupied, and the test chamber is very practical.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying examples.
As shown in fig. 1 to 6, a toy is social behavior testing arrangement independently, including test chamber 1, two outer walls are provided with leading thing pipe 2 respectively around test chamber 1, after put thing pipe 3, leading thing pipe 2 and after put thing pipe 3 all separate through iron wire spacer 4 with test chamber 1 is inside, because iron wire spacer 4 has a lot of fretwork holes, can sniff each other at the inside rat of test chamber 1 and the rat that is in putting the thing pipe, socialize, the rat that is in putting the thing pipe can't get into test chamber 1 in, the flow of guaranteeing the experimental setting can go on smoothly. The export 21 that leading thing pipe 2 and after put thing pipe 3 kept away from test bin 1 one end can be sealed, and the iron wire net door that can open and shut seals, prevents that the rat from leaving the thing pipe.
Be provided with guide rail slot 5 on the 1 lateral wall of test chamber, overhead door 6 and can drive elevating system 7 that overhead door 6 goes up and down, 6 both sides of overhead door are inserted and are established in guide rail slot 5, can reciprocate under the restraint of guide rail slot 5, the mounted position of two overhead doors 6 respectively with leading thing pipe 2, the position phase-match of after putting thing pipe 3, through the lift of overhead door 6, can allow or block the sniffing activity of the rat of test chamber 1 inside and the rat that is in putting the thing pipe.
Be provided with micro-gap switch 8 on the 1 inner wall in test bin, micro-gap switch 8 and elevating system 7 electricity are connected, and two micro-gap switch 8 set up respectively in one side of two overhead doors 6, press micro-gap switch 8 and can open overhead door 6, and micro-gap switch 8 is connected with the 11 electricity of counter, and the animal is every time micro-gap switch 8 of pressing, and numerical value on the counter 11 just can add one, and after the experiment, counter 11 can zero. The infrared camera 9 is placed in the position that can shoot test chamber 1, leading thing pipe 2 and the overall appearance of post-storage pipe 3, conveniently carries out comprehensive shooting. In addition, the infrared camera 9 is electrically connected with the video recording computer, and the video recording can be carried out through the video recording computer connected with the infrared camera 9 in the whole testing process.
Elevating system 7's concrete structure is as follows, elevating system 7 includes slider 71, lead screw 72, plum blossom shaft coupling 73, motor 74, the bearing fixing base, slider 71 is fixed on 6 outer walls of overhead door, set up in the slider 71 with lead screw 72 assorted screw hole, slider 71 cover is established on lead screw 72, the lead screw 72 lower extreme passes through plum blossom shaft coupling 73 and is connected with motor 74, lead screw 72 upper portion is fixed with the bearing, bearing and bearing fixing base are fixed, the bearing fixing base is fixed on the outer wall of test chamber 1, along with slider 71's removal, overhead door 6 follows the removal. In addition, other elevating mechanisms 7 may be used to achieve the same effect.
In addition, the microswitch 8 and the motor 74 are electrically connected with the gate control circuit 10, the gate control circuit 10 comprises a delay disconnection relay 101, a motor forward and backward rotation controller 102, a delay connection relay 103 and a slide rheostat 104 which are electrically connected with each other, the specific connection mode is as shown in fig. 2, the lifting speed, the rising time and the falling time of the door can be regulated and controlled by changing the resistance of the circuit connected to the slide rheostat 104 and changing the capacitance of the two relays, so that the regulation can be carried out according to different experimental purposes.
Example 1
An experimental method applying the device for testing the autonomous social behaviors of the small animals comprises the following steps:
step 1: purchasing 21-day-old SD rats (SD rats are weaned days old) from an experimental animal company with production and sale permission of experimental animals, randomly pairing 4 SD rats in one cage, marking each animal, weighing and recording the weight of the animal, feeding the animal in a constant-temperature and constant-humidity environment with reversed day and night after the animal is purchased, and ensuring sufficient supply of feed and drinking water until the animal is 70 days old (SD rats are adult days old);
in addition, the reversal of day and night means that the environment for animal breeding is completely dark in the day and is lighted at night, because the big and small mice are all nocturnal creatures, the experiment is more reasonable at night;
step 2: the rat A is placed in the testing chamber 1, the rat X and the rat Y which have the same sex as the rat A and are raised in different cages are respectively placed in the prepositive pipe 2 and the postpositive pipe 3, the head of each of the rat X and the rat Y faces the lifting door 6, the front claw of the rat A is grabbed to press the microswitch 8, the lifting door 6 is opened, the rat A can smell and socialize with the corresponding rat behind the lifting door 6 through the iron wire separation net 4, after the steps are repeated for several times, the rat A is freely searched in the testing chamber 1, the rat A is made to be familiar with the environment of the testing chamber 1, the effect of the microswitch 8 is known, the steps are repeated for 7 days or more than 7 days, the rats in the prepositive pipe 2 and the postpositive pipe 3 are the rat X and the rat Y every day, and the rat A is made to be fully familiar with the device and the effect of each microswitch 8 is known. In the later step, rats in the preposition tube 2 and the postposition tube 3 are all provided with heads facing the lifting door 6;
and step 3: after the rat A is fully familiar with the device and knows the action of each switch, namely 7 days later, the counter 11 is reset to zero, no rat is placed in the prepositive object pipe 2 and the postpositive object pipe 3, the infrared camera 9 and the video recording computer are started to record, then the rat A is placed in the test chamber 1, the counter 11 is started to count, and the rat A is firstly adapted for 10 min;
and 4, step 4: after the adaptation is completed, recording data on the two counters 11, then placing a rat B which has the same sex as the rat A and is bred in a different cage into the preposed object pipe 2, enabling the rat A to freely move for 10min after the outlet 21 of the preposed object pipe 2 is closed, and recording data on the two counters 11 after 10 min; the step is the first stage of experiment;
and 5: after the first stage of the experiment is finished, then the rat B (familiar animal) in the prepositive tube 2 is changed into a rat C (strange animal) with the same sex as the rat A, the rat B (familiar animal) is placed in the posterior placement tube 3, the outlet 21 of the posterior placement tube 3 is closed, the rat A freely moves for 10min, and data on two counters 11 are recorded after 10 min; the step is the second stage of experiment; in addition, the above-mentioned 10min can also be adjusted to any fixed time period within one hour as long as the timing duration of the corresponding experiment is kept the same.
Step 6: the infrared camera 9 records the whole process of free movement of the rat after the rat is placed in the test chamber 1, the recording is finished after the second stage of the experiment is finished, the video is stored, and the rat is placed back into the feeding cage and cleaned;
and 7: and (3) carrying out data analysis: according to the recorded data of the counter 11, calculating the times of pressing the microswitch 8 by the rat A in the step 4 (namely the first stage of the experiment) and the step 5 (namely the second stage of the experiment);
judging the social ability of the rat according to the ratio of the number of times that the rat A presses the microswitch 8 in the corresponding direction of the rat B in the step 4 (namely the first stage of the experiment) to the sum of the number of times that the two microswitches 8 are pressed, wherein if the ratio is large, the social ability of the tested animal is strong;
judging the social novelty preference of the rat according to the ratio of the number of times that the rat A presses the microswitch 8 in the corresponding direction of the rat C in the step 5 (namely the second stage of the experiment) to the sum of the number of times that the two microswitches 8 are pressed, and if the ratio is large, testing that the animal has the social novelty preference;
observing an experiment video by using a manual timer, recording the sniffing time of the rat A after a switch holding the rat B is pressed down in the first stage of the experiment, and judging the social ability of the rat A, wherein if the sniffing time is long, the social ability of the tested animal is strong (the data can be used for auxiliary judgment);
judging the social novelty preference of the rat A according to the ratio of the sniffing time after the rat A presses the switch containing the rat C in the second stage of the experiment to the sum of the sniffing time after the two switches are pressed, and if the ratio is large, testing the social novelty preference of the animal.
Example 2
The basic steps are the same as example 1, except that after step 7 is completed, the cranium of the rat A is opened, the electrode is embedded into a test brain area (such as the prefrontal lobe) of the rat A, the rat A is kept in rest after the operation is completed, and after 7 days, the steps 2-7 in example 1 are repeated, except that the discharge condition of the rat A is synchronously recorded while the steps 2-7 are performed, and the social behaviors of the test animals are explored through the in-vivo electrophysiological discharge condition of the rat A.
Example 3
The basic steps are the same as the embodiment 1, the steps 1-4 and 6-7 are consistent (the corresponding data analysis in the second stage of the experiment in the step 7 is removed), in the step 5, the conditions of the two placing pipes are consistent with the step 4, but the descending time of the lifting door 6 is prolonged by adjusting the gate control circuit 10, namely, the rat A can not open the lifting door by pressing the micro switch within a period of time (the time can be adjusted, such as one minute) after the lifting door 6 is closed; judging the degree of the social activity of the test animal by the time from the holding and the giving-up of the micro switch 8 by the rat A during the period that the door cannot be opened and the frequency of pressing the micro switch 8 in the corresponding direction of the rat B by the rat A during the period that the door cannot be opened, wherein the longer the time from the holding and the giving-up of the micro switch 8 by the rat A during the period that the door cannot be opened is, the more desirable the social activity of the test animal is; the more times the rat a presses the microswitch 8 in the corresponding direction in which the rat B is placed during the period in which the door cannot be opened, the more desirable the test animal is for social activities.
Example 4
The basic procedure is the same as that of example 1, except that the rat placed in the device tube during the experiment is changed into other articles (such as a mouse and the like), and the degree of craving of the test animal for certain articles is observed and judged.
Specifically, taking the article M as an example, the article M is a mouse, the step 7 is deleted, and the steps 3 to 5 are replaced by:
and step 3: resetting the counter 11 to zero, starting the infrared camera 9 and the video recording computer to record when the article M is not placed in the prepositive pipe 2, then placing the rat A into the test chamber 1, starting the counter 11 to count, and enabling the rat A to adapt for 10 min;
and 4, step 4: after the adaptation is completed, recording data on two counters 11, then putting an article M into the preposed tube 2, allowing the rat A to freely move for 10min, and recording the data on the two counters 11 after 10 min;
and 5: the gate control circuit 10 is adjusted to prolong the descending time of the lifting gate 6, and the degree of the craving of the tested animal to the article M is judged according to the time from the rat A insisting on pressing the micro switch 8 to giving up during the period that the door cannot be opened and the times that the rat A presses the micro switch 8 in the corresponding direction of the preposed article pipe 2 during the period that the door cannot be opened.
Example 5
The basic procedure is the same as in example 2, but the rats (rat A) used in the whole process are rat models (e.g. socially impaired rats) for which some abnormality has been determined, and the social behavior of the abnormal animals is observed.
Example 6
The basic procedure is the same as in example 1, except that the animal is exposed to a drug acutely the next day after the animal's social activity is first tested (step 5 is completed), and then the animal is subjected to a social activity test (i.e., steps 3-5 are repeated) to observe and judge the influence of the acute effect of the drug on the adult animal's social activity.
Example 7
The basic steps are the same as the embodiment 1, steps 1-3 and 6-7 are the same, step 4, different objects (for example, a mouse in one placing tube and a microphone in the other placing tube) or different parts of the same object (for example, a rat in one placing tube is head-to-door, and a rat in the other placing tube is tail-to-door) are respectively placed in the two placing tubes, step 5 is omitted, and the animal is judged to be more afraid or more preferred according to the times that the animal respectively presses the two micro switches.
Example 8
The basic steps are the same as example 1, but after the animal is subjected to the first test for social behaviors (the end of step 5), the animal is subjected to acute exposure of a certain drug for several consecutive days, and the last test for social behaviors (namely, the steps 3-5 are repeated) is carried out one day after the acute effects of the drug exposure are finished, so that the influence of the chronic effects of the certain drug on the social behaviors of the adult animals is observed and judged.
Example 9
The basic procedure is similar to example 1, steps 2-7 being identical, and in step 1 2 animals are selected at random for acute exposure to a drug per cage of animals during their adolescent phase (around 35 days of age), the remaining two being exposed (day of exposure corresponding to the drug exposure group) to an equal amount of saline. Steps 2-7 of example 1 are performed after the animal is adult. Observing and testing whether the difference of social behaviors exists between the rats of the drug acute exposure group in the adolescence and the rats of the control group (for example, the social behavior disorder exists in the whole rats of the drug acute exposure group in the adolescence compared with the rats of the control group), thereby judging whether the drug acute exposure in the adolescence can cause the social behavior disorder of the animals after the animals grow up.
Example 10
The basic procedure is similar to example 1, steps 2-7 are identical, and in step 1, 2 animals are randomly selected to be chronically exposed (e.g., from 35 to 49 days of age, corresponding to the age of the rat from puberty to late puberty) to an amount of saline solution for each cage of animals when the animals are in their adolescent age, and the remaining two are chronically exposed (the age of the exposure is identical to that of the drug exposure group). Example 1 steps 2-7 were performed after the animal was adult. Observing and testing whether the social behavior difference exists between the rats of the drug chronic exposure group in the adolescence and the rats of the control group (for example, the overall social behavior disorder exists in the rats of the drug chronic exposure group in the adolescence compared with the rats of the control group), so as to judge whether the drug chronic exposure in the adolescence causes the social behavior disorder of the animals after the animals grow up.
Finally, it should be noted that: the attached drawings are only schematic diagrams, and the related characters are taken as the standard; the above examples are merely illustrative of the technical solutions of the present invention, and not limitative thereof; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.