Mouse Behavior Tracker: An economical method for tracking behavior in home cages

Abstract

Analysis of mouse behavior often requires expensive equipment and transfer of the mice to new test environments, which could trigger confounding behavior alterations. Here, we describe a system for tracking mouse behavior in home cages using a low-cost USB webcam and free software (Fiji and wrMTrck). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this method by tracking differences in distance traveled, speed, and movement tracks between wild-type mice and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) model mice (SOD1G93A).

Keywords

• ImageJ
• mouse behavior
• distance traveled
• velocity
• SOD1G93A