A Fine Motor Task to Study Joint Kinematics in a Preclinical Model of Neurodegenerative Disease

Our research focuses on fine motor skills in models of neurodegeneration. Specifically, we aim to use our new task as a novel biomarker for motor dysfunction. Machine learning algorithms have advanced systems neuroscience to provide an unbiased and automatic way of analyzing clustered animal movement into behavior that typically cannot be deciphered by the human eye.

By combining body part tracking and computer clustering methods, we are able to reliably detect, classify, and predict transitions between animal movements in our novel fine motor task. To begin the 10-day shaping phase, first turn on the infrared light, the camera, and the computer. Transfer the cages containing the rats into the testing room and allow them to acclimate for five minutes.