WO2024098485A1 - Apparatus for testing conditioned place preference of animal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for testing a conditioned position preference of an animal. The apparatus comprises intervention apparatuses, clue modules, and a recording device which are arranged in a modularized mode. The intervention apparatuses are detachably mounted on an animal cage and are used for performing intervention experiments on an animal in the animal cage; each clue module is mounted near a corresponding intervention apparatus and is used for marking the corresponding intervention apparatus; and the recording device is detachably mounted on the animal cage and is used for recording activity data of the animal around the intervention apparatus marked with the clue module. The apparatus is detachably mounted on the animal cage and can perform preference testing on the animal in an original animal feeding environment. Additionally, the apparatus can freely increase and decrease modules and channels, is flexible and convenient to use, and can meet different preference testing requirements of animals.

Description

A device for testing animal conditioned place preference Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of animal behavior, in particular to a device for testing animal conditional position preference.

Background technique

Animal models can express human behavior in a patterned way. Classic animal models often reflect some disease symptoms and are used to study the pathogenesis of diseases and evaluate treatment methods. Rodents are often used to construct neurological disease models, and different behavioral phenotypes of mice are used to represent some human symptoms, such as anxiety, learning, addiction, etc. Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) experiments are often used to evaluate drug dependence. The device is generally composed of a black box, a white box, and an intermediate box, equipped with a camera to record the activity trajectory of mice. Taking advantage of the fact that mice naturally like darkness, the preference of mice in black and white boxes is first detected, which generally shows no preference or a preference for black boxes. Secondly, the drug is administered in one side of the box using a psychotropic drug, which is generally a white box that mice instinctively dislike. Once the mouse becomes dependent on the drug, it will have a clear preference for the white box. The mouse associates the white box with the drug through learning, so it will spontaneously go to the white box to find the drug. Finally, the activity of the mouse in the two boxes is detected without drug administration to determine whether a conditioned place preference is generated, and the degree of drug dependence of the mouse is evaluated based on this. CPP is an important model for studying the pathogenesis of addiction and screening therapeutic drugs.

technical problem

However, the existing CPPD has two disadvantages: first, the animals need to be transferred from the animal cage to the CPPD, and thus the animals are tested in a completely new environment, which will cause the animals to have a stress response. Even if the animals are placed in the CPPD in advance to adapt for a period of time, it cannot be guaranteed that the animals will not have a stress response during the test. Second, due to the fixed structure of the existing CPPD, the types of intervention test experiments that can be performed are single, such as a single method of drug administration, which cannot meet the research needs of some instinctive oral drug administration.

Technical Solutions

One object of the present invention is to provide an animal conditional position preference testing device, which can be detachably mounted on an animal cage and can be used to perform preference tests on animals in their original breeding environment. Moreover, the device can freely add or remove modules and channels, is flexible and convenient to use, and can meet different preference testing requirements of animals.

The present invention provides, in one aspect, a device for testing animal conditioned place preference, comprising:

An intervention device, which is detachably mounted on an animal cage and is used to perform intervention experiments on animals in the animal cage;

a clue module, the clue module being installed near the corresponding intervention device and used to mark the corresponding intervention device; and

A recording device is detachably mounted on the animal cage and is used to record the activity data of the animal around the intervention device marked with the clue module.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the intervention device is provided with different intervention conditions to test the degree of preference of the animal for different intervention conditions; the intervention device is any one of a drinking water device, an air supply device, a light device and a sound device, and the intervention condition is any one of a taste intervention condition, an olfactory intervention condition, a visual intervention condition, an auditory intervention condition and a tactile intervention condition.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the intervention condition is any one or more of alcohol, sugar water, water, and medicine.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the animal conditional place preference testing device comprises two cue modules, and the two cue modules are a smooth acrylic plate and a rough acrylic plate.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the animal conditional place preference testing device includes two intervention devices, the two intervention devices are drinking water devices, different types of liquids are placed in the two drinking water devices respectively, and the smooth acrylic plate and the rough acrylic plate are respectively arranged on the corresponding drinking water devices.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the liquids in the two drinking water devices are alcohol and water respectively; or the liquids in the two drinking water devices are sugar water and water respectively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the smooth acrylic plate and the rough acrylic plate are installed near the corresponding drinking water device by means of gluing, magnetism, thread connection, or snap-fitting.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the recording device includes any one or more of an infrared touch screen, an infrared sensor, and a camera.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the recording device is an infrared touch screen, which is detachably mounted on the bottom of the animal cage and is used to record the activity time, activity trajectory and number of approaches of the animal around the intervention device marked with the clue module.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the animal conditional place preference testing device also includes a data processing and analysis unit that is communicatively connected to the recording device, and the data processing and analysis unit is used to process and analyze the activity data recorded by the recording device to obtain the animal's preference degree for the corresponding intervention condition.

Beneficial Effects

In view of the shortcomings of the traditional CPP device, the present invention modularizes the animal conditioned place preference test device, so that the animal conditioned place preference test device becomes an accessory group that can be installed in the cage, which is more flexible to use, and modules and channels can be freely added and removed, and the animal is less stressed, which is conducive to studying the pathogenesis of addictive substances and evaluating the effects of therapeutic drugs. The present invention greatly reduces the use threshold of the test device and increases its convenience through the flexible matching of the various modules of the modular and detachable designed animal conditioned place preference test device. Since there is no need to change the animal breeding environment, the credibility and stability of animal behavior experimental data are increased to a certain extent.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from an understanding of the following description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structural block diagram of the animal conditional place preference testing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the animal conditional place preference testing device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of the accompanying symbols: animal conditioned place preference test device 100; intervention device 10; drinking water device with alcohol 11; drinking water device with water 12; clue module 20; smooth acrylic plate 21; rough acrylic plate 22; recording device 30; infrared touch screen 31; data processing and analysis unit 40.

Embodiments of the present invention

The following description is used to disclose the present invention so that those skilled in the art can implement the present invention. The preferred embodiments described below are only examples, and those skilled in the art can think of other obvious variations. The basic principles of the present invention defined in the following description can be applied to other embodiments, deformation schemes, improved schemes, equivalent schemes, and other technical solutions that do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the disclosure of the present invention, the terms "vertical", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicating the orientation or position relationship are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the above terms should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

It is to be understood that the term "one" should be understood as "at least one" or "one or more", that is, in one embodiment, the number of an element may be one, while in another embodiment, the number of the element may be multiple, and the term "one" should not be understood as a limitation on the quantity.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or mutual communication; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

Conditioned place preference experiments are often used to evaluate the psychological dependence of drugs. Traditional devices include black and white boxes, cameras and other equipment. The present invention simplifies the traditional conditional place preference box, and can add liquid feeding accessories, clue accessories and track recording accessories to the mouse cage to detect the level of conditional place preference of mice caused by intervention factors. The present invention specifically provides a modular and detachable animal conditional place preference test device, which can be detachably installed on the animal cage, and can perform preference tests on animals in the original breeding environment of the animals. Moreover, the device can freely increase or decrease modules and channels, and is flexible and convenient to use, and can meet the different preference test requirements of animals.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 , the animal conditional place preference testing device 100 of the present invention includes a modular intervention device 10 , a cue module 20 , and a recording device 30 .

More specifically, the intervention device 10 is detachably mounted on the animal cage 200, and is used to conduct intervention experiments on the animals in the animal cage 200; the clue module 20 is mounted on the animal cage 200 and is located near the corresponding intervention device 10, and is used to mark the corresponding intervention device 10; the recording device 30 is detachably mounted on the animal cage 200, and is used to record the activity data of the animal around the intervention device 10 marked with the clue module 20.

It is worth mentioning that the clue module 20 can be installed near the corresponding intervention device 10 by gluing, magnetism, threaded connection, or snap-fitting, and the present invention does not impose any limitation on this.

It is also worth mentioning that the intervention device 10 can be installed on the animal cage 200 in a detachable manner such as direct placement, bonding, magnetism, snap-fitting, hanging, etc., and the present invention is not limited to this.

It can be understood that the cue module 20, the intervention device 10 and the recording device 30 can be detachably mounted on the animal cage 200. Therefore, the animal conditional place preference test device 100 of the present invention can perform preference tests on animals in their original breeding environment, thereby avoiding stress responses in animals and helping to improve the credibility and stability of animal behavioral experimental data.

In other words, the clue module 20 and the intervention device 10 of the present invention are independent of the detection device and can be installed in the animal's living cage, respectively, which is conducive to minimizing the stimulation to the animal during the test. Therefore, the present invention provides a modular animal conditional place preference test device 100 based on feeding equipment. The modular experimental device based on feeding equipment of the present invention breaks through the limitation of experimental channels, has a low operating threshold, and is easy to assemble.

In particular, the cue module 20 uses neutral environmental cues to mark the corresponding intervention device 10, wherein the neutral environmental cues refer to cues that are not related to animal instincts and the animals have no obvious preference between the two in the absence of the intervention device 10, such as a grid and a grid cage bottom.

The present invention marks the intervention device 10 with neutral environmental cues. The intervention device 10 is first placed in the animal cage 200 for a period of time. Then, in the test phase, the animal's reaction to the neutral environmental cues can be displayed when the intervention device 10 is removed, so as to intuitively obtain the animal's preference for the intervention.

It is worth mentioning that there are at least two intervention devices 10, and the two intervention devices 10 are provided with different intervention conditions to test the preference of the animals for different intervention conditions.

Optionally, the intervention device 10 is any one of a drinking device, an air supply device, a light device and a sound device, and the intervention condition is any one of a taste intervention condition, an olfactory intervention condition, a visual intervention condition, an auditory intervention condition and a tactile intervention condition.

Optionally, the intervention condition is any one or more of alcohol, sugar water, water, and medicine.

It can be understood that the animal conditional place preference test device 100 of the present invention is modularized by setting the clue module 20 and the intervention device 10, and the intervention device 10 is detachably installed on the animal cage 200, so the corresponding type of intervention device 10 can be installed on the animal cage 200 according to the actual preference test requirements. For example, when testing the degree of alcohol preference, an intervention device that supplies alcohol and water can be installed on the animal cage 200; for another example, when testing the degree of drug preference, intervention devices with and without drugs can be installed on the animal cage 200. The animal conditional place preference test device 100 of the present invention can meet the requirements of various animal preference test experiments, is flexible and convenient to use, and has a wide range of applications.

In order to further obtain accurate data on the degree of preference of the animal, the present invention is provided with the recording device 30, through which the activity data of the animal to different neutral environmental cues, including activity time, activity trajectory, and number of approach times, are recorded, and the preference index is calculated to illustrate the degree of preference of the animal to the intervention substance (intervention condition). Specifically, preference index = approach time/total time in the device. Thus, by calculating the accurate preference index, the degree of preference of the animal to the intervention substance can be accurately obtained.

The recording device 30 is a device capable of recording images and videos. Optionally, the recording device 30 includes any one or more of an infrared touch screen, an infrared sensor, and a camera.

Preferably, the recording device 30 uses an infrared touch screen or an infrared sensor, which is detachably mounted on the bottom of the animal cage 200, and is used to record the activity time, activity trajectory, and number of times the animal approaches the intervention device 10 marked with the clue module 20. The infrared touch screen can collect the activity data of the animal without contact, which is conducive to minimizing the stimulation to the animal.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the animal conditional place preference testing device 100 further includes a data processing and analysis unit 40 communicatively connected to the recording device 30, and the data processing and analysis unit 40 is used to process and analyze the activity data recorded by the recording device 30 to obtain the degree of preference of the animal for the corresponding intervention condition. The data processing and analysis unit 40 can be a computer or other equipment, and the present invention is not limited to this.

It should be understood that the animal conditional place preference testing device 100 of the present invention can be applied to animals including mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys and the like, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in Fig. 2, the specific structure of the animal conditional place preference test device 100 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is explained. In this preferred embodiment, taking the test of the preference of mice for alcohol as an example, the device includes two cue modules 20 and two intervention devices 10, the two cue modules 20 are smooth acrylic plates 21 and rough acrylic plates 22, respectively, the intervention device 10 is a drinking device, one of the drinking devices contains alcohol, and the other drinking device contains water; the recording device 30 uses an infrared touch screen 31.

The specific process of the animal conditional place preference testing device 100 for testing the degree of preference of mice for alcohol is as follows:

1. Baseline testing of preference for neutral environmental cues

Specifically, the mice were tested for their preference for two neutral environmental cues before the experiment, i.e., a baseline test of preference for neutral environmental cues was performed before the experiment. In this embodiment, the mice were tested for their preference for smooth and rough acrylic plates before the experiment, i.e., a baseline test of preference for neutral environmental cues was performed.

2. Clue Marking

Specifically, utilizing the clue module 20 accompanying the intervention device 10 and the tactile sensitivity of mice, smooth and rough acrylic plates are respectively adhered to the two sides of the mouse cage using adhesive, and drinking devices for alcohol and water are respectively connected to one side of the smooth or rough acrylic plate. The smooth and rough acrylic plates are respectively located near the corresponding drinking devices, so that the smooth and rough acrylic plates and the corresponding drinking devices respectively constitute the clue module 20 accompanying the intervention, thereby completing the marking of the intervention device 10 by the clue module 20.

It is worth mentioning that the drinking device 11 may be marked with alcohol by a smooth acrylic plate, and the drinking device 12 may be marked with water by a rough acrylic plate; or the drinking device 11 may be marked with alcohol by a rough acrylic plate, and the drinking device 12 may be marked with water by a smooth acrylic plate. In other words, there is no exclusive correspondence between the cue module 20 and the intervention device 10. Since animals have no preference for neutral environmental cues, the use of neutral environmental cue detection and the accompanying intervention device 10 to test animals can test the degree of preference of animals for the intervention condition.

3. Conduct training for the cue intervention device 10

Specifically, neutral environmental cues and an intervention condition are presented repeatedly, so that mice learn the corresponding response to neutral environmental cues due to their different responses to the intervention conditions even though they have no specific preference for the neutral environmental cues.

In this embodiment, the drinking water device is a drinking water pipe with a scale, and the bottle mouth of the drinking water pipe is provided with a touch sensor, which will automatically open and supply water when the mouse touches it. By repeatedly placing the smooth acrylic plate 21 and the rough acrylic plate 22 with the corresponding drinking water device 11 with alcohol or the drinking water device 12 with water, and feeding the mice with alcohol and water, the mice will develop a preference for the neutral environmental cues accompanied by alcohol after becoming addicted to alcohol, so that the mice learn to react to the smooth acrylic plate 21 corresponding to the drinking water device 11 with alcohol, forming an accompanying condition.

4. Preference Test and Drug Treatment

After the matching training of the cue intervention device 10, the intervention device 10 is removed and the mouse's preference for the two cues is detected, that is, the mouse's activity time, activity trajectory and the number of times it approaches the two cues are recorded through the infrared touch screen 31, and the preference index is calculated to analyze the mouse's preference for the intervention substance.

Generally speaking, after mice become addicted to alcohol, they will develop a preference for neutral environmental cues that accompany alcohol. After some drug treatment or behavioral therapy, this preference disappears, and it is believed that their alcohol addiction symptoms have been alleviated. Therefore, after mice become addicted to alcohol, after a period of drug or behavioral therapy intervention, retesting the mice's preference for neutral cues can illustrate the therapeutic effect of the drug or behavior.

The above preferred embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to the sugar water preference test experiment, that is, the liquids in the two drinking water devices can also be sugar water and water respectively, so as to test the preference of mice for sugar water.

In general, the present invention provides a modular animal conditioned place preference test device 100 based on a feeding device, wherein the animal conditioned place preference test device 100 includes a plurality of modules that can be detachably mounted on an animal cage 200, and is more flexible to use, and modules and channels can be freely added or removed, and animals are less stressed, which is beneficial for studying the pathogenesis of addictive substances and evaluating the effects of therapeutic drugs. The present invention greatly reduces the threshold for use of the test device and increases its convenience by flexibly matching and using the various modules of the modular and detachable designed animal conditioned place preference test device 100. Since the test is conducted in the original feeding environment of the animal, the credibility and stability of the animal behavior experimental data are increased to a certain extent.

The technical features of the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

The above embodiments only express the preferred implementation modes of the present invention, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that, for those of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims (10)

An animal conditioned place preference testing device, characterized by comprising: An intervention device, which is detachably mounted on an animal cage and is used to perform intervention experiments on animals in the animal cage; a clue module, the clue module being installed near the corresponding intervention device and used to mark the corresponding intervention device; and A recording device is detachably mounted on the animal cage and is used to record the activity data of the animal around the intervention device marked with the clue module. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 1 is characterized in that the intervention device is provided with different intervention conditions to test the degree of preference of the animal for different intervention conditions; the intervention device is any one of a drinking water device, an air supply device, a light device and a sound device, and the intervention condition is any one of a taste intervention condition, an olfactory intervention condition, a visual intervention condition, an auditory intervention condition and a tactile intervention condition. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the intervention condition is any one or more of alcohol, sugar water, water, and medicine. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 2 is characterized in that the animal conditional place preference testing device comprises two cue modules, and the two cue modules are a smooth acrylic plate and a rough acrylic plate. The animal conditioned place preference testing device according to claim 4 is characterized in that the animal conditioned place preference testing device comprises two intervention devices, the two intervention devices are drinking water devices, different types of liquids are placed in the two drinking water devices respectively, and the smooth acrylic plate and the rough acrylic plate are respectively arranged on the corresponding drinking water devices. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 5 is characterized in that the liquids in the two drinking water devices are alcohol and water respectively; or the liquids in the two drinking water devices are sugar water and water respectively. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 5 is characterized in that the smooth acrylic plate and the rough acrylic plate are installed near the corresponding drinking water device by gluing, magnetic attraction, threaded connection, or snap-fitting, respectively. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is characterized in that the recording device includes any one or more of an infrared touch screen, an infrared sensor, and a camera. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to claim 8 is characterized in that the recording device is an infrared touch screen, which is detachably mounted on the bottom of the animal cage and is used to record the animal's activity time, activity trajectory and number of approaches around the intervention device marked with the clue module. The animal conditional place preference testing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is characterized in that it also includes a data processing and analysis unit that is communicatively connected to the recording device, and the data processing and analysis unit is used to process and analyze the activity data recorded by the recording device to obtain the animal's preference for the corresponding intervention condition.