Citric Acid Water as an Alternative to Water Restriction for High-Yield Mouse Behavior
| Autor: | Zachary F. Mainen, Anne K. Churchland, Anne E Urai, Ines Laranjeira, Fanny Cazettes, Valeria Aguillon-Rodriguez |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
water restriction
Computer science Novel Tools and Methods Citric Acid Task (project management) 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Mice 0302 clinical medicine Reward Animals Animal behavior Food science Water intake 030304 developmental biology Hydration status Alternative methods Systems neuroscience 0303 health sciences Animal health Behavior Animal business.industry Chemistry General Neuroscience mouse behavior Free access Water General Medicine decision-making Research Article: Methods/New Tools Biotechnology Rats Mice Inbred C57BL citric acid water business Citric acid 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | eNeuro |
| ISSN: | 2373-2822 |
| Popis: | Powerful neural measurement and perturbation tools have positioned mice as an ideal species for probing the neural circuit mechanisms of cognition. Crucial to this success is the ability to motivate animals to perform specific behaviors. One successful strategy is to restrict their water intake, rewarding them with water during a behavioral task. However, water restriction requires rigorous monitoring of animals’ health and hydration status and can be challenging for some mice.We present an alternative that allows mice more control over their water intake: free home-cage access to water, made slightly sour by a small amount of citric acid (CA). In a previous study, rats with free access to CA water readily performed a behavioral task for water rewards, although completing fewer trials than under water restriction (Reinagel, 2018). We here extend this approach to mice and confirm its robustness across multiple laboratories.Mice reduced their intake of CA water while maintaining healthy weights. Continuous home-cage access to CA water only subtly impacted their willingness to perform a decision-making task, in which they were rewarded with sweetened water. When free CA water was used instead of water restriction only on weekends, learning and decision-making behavior were unaffected. CA water is thus a promising alternative to water restriction, allowing animals more control over their water intake without interfering with behavioral performance.Significance StatementHigh-throughput, reliable behavioral training is a key requirement for the use of mice in behavioral and systems neuroscience, but depends crucially on ability to motivate animals to perform specific behaviors. Here, we present an alternative method to commonly used methods of water restriction: free home-cage access to water, made slightly sour by a small amount of citric acid. This non-labor-intensive, low-error option benefits animal health without hindering behavioral training progress. Citric acid water can serve as a reliable and standardized strategy to achieve high quality task behavior, further facilitating the use of mice in high-throughput behavioral studies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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