Abstract
The study of social interactions in mice is used as a model for normal and pathological cognitive and emotional processes. But extracting comprehensive behavioral information from videos of interacting mice is still a challenge. We describe a computerized method and software, MiceProfiler, that uses geometrical primitives to model and track two mice without requiring any specific tagging. The program monitors a comprehensive repertoire of behavioral states and their temporal evolution, allowing the identification of key elements that trigger social contact. Using MiceProfiler we studied the role of neuronal nicotinic receptors in the establishment of social interactions and risk-prone postures. We found that the duration and type of social interactions with a conspecific evolves differently over time in mice lacking neuronal nicotinic receptors (Chrnb2−/−, here called β2−/−), compared to C57BL/6J mice, and identified a new type of coordinated posture, called back-to-back posture, that we rarely observed in β2−/− mice.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the Institut Pasteur, by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (URA 2582 and UMR 8195), by the Université Paris Sud 11 (Chaire d'Excellence to S.G., post-doctoral fellowship to R.D.-S.C. and PhD grant (Bourse de la Présidence) to J.C.), and the Université Paris 6 (PhD grant to P.S.). It was also supported in part by a grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-09-BLAN-0340-02 FLEXNEURIM).
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F.d.C. created the tracking and analysis methods, and developed the software. R.D.-S.C. and A.C. performed and analyzed experiments. P.S. and J.C. analyzed experiments. S.G. designed the behavioral repertoire, performed and analyzed experiments, and conducted statistical analyses. J.-C.O.-M. supervised the design of the tracking method. F.d.C., A.C., S.G. and J.-C.O.-M. conceived the project and wrote the manuscript.
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Supplementary information
Supplementary Text and Figures
Supplementary Figures 1–6, Supplementary Notes 1–4 (PDF 1376 kb)
Supplementary Software
Bundle of Icy and MiceProfiler. (ZIP 90801 kb)
Supplementary Video 1
Video demonstration of MiceProfiler. (MP4 83080 kb)
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de Chaumont, F., Coura, RS., Serreau, P. et al. Computerized video analysis of social interactions in mice. Nat Methods 9, 410–417 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1924
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1924
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