Cross-species assessments of motor and exploratory behavior related to bipolar disorder

Abstract

Alterations in exploratory behavior are a fundamental feature of bipolar mania, typically characterized as motor hyperactivity and increased goal-directed behavior in response to environmental cues. In contrast, abnormal exploration associated with schizophrenia and depression can manifest as prominent withdrawal, limited motor activity, and inattention to the environment. While motor abnormalities are cited frequently as clinical manifestations of these disorders, relatively few empirical studies have quantified human exploratory behavior. This article reviews the literature characterizing motor and exploratory behavior associated with bipolar disorder and genetic and pharmacological animal models of the illness. Despite sophisticated assessment of exploratory behavior in rodents, objective quantification of human motor activity has been limited primarily to actigraphy studies with poor cross-species translational value. Furthermore, symptoms that reflect the cardinal features of bipolar disorder have proven difficult to establish in putative animal models of this illness. Recently, however, novel tools such as the Human Behavioral Pattern Monitor provide multivariate translational measures of motor and exploratory activity, enabling improved understanding of the neurobiology underlying psychiatric disorders.

Validation of the Zebra-fish Pentylene Tetrazol Seizure Model: Behaviour Assay for Assessing Anti-Epileptic Drug Efficacy

“…Moreover, both the behavioral and RT-PCR analysis data showed that drugs were absorbed well by zebra-fish larvae within a defined time period (1 hr pre-treated and 1 hr co-treated with PTZ, 2 hrs totally), and most false negative results could be avoided if maximum tolerant concentration was used. These results were consistent with Orellana-Paucar et al [17] and Baxendale et al [25] data. Therefore, for anticonvulsant drug screening, it does not need to treat zebra-fish larvae more than 2 hrs, especially in highthroughput screening.…”

“…Numerous studies have showed that adult or zebra-fish larvae exposed to PTZ exhibit increased locomotor activity, seizure-like behavior, and epileptiform electrographic activity [15,19] [ [22][23][24], which have a good correlation between zebra-fish and rodent data [15,17,21,25]. Also, many researchers have used zebra-fish seizure model for anti- convulsions in zebra-fish larvae was assessed through quantification of the high-speed moved distance.…”

“…Also, our results showed that if zebra-fish larvae were placed in individual well of 96-well microplate, there would be more false positive than in 48-well microplate, and even 1% DMSO treated alone, the most used vehicle, would give a significant positive effect on zebra-fish seizure-like movement. Therefore, the 48-well microplate was used in this research, just as Baxendale et al [25] did. Also, we …”

Genetic disruption of ankyrin-G in adult mouse forebrain causes cortical synapse alteration and behavior reminiscent of bipolar disorder

“…At baseline, the Ank-G cKO mice exhibit striking hyperactivity, one of the core features of human mania, and a translatable phenotype which can be assessed in comparable ways in human patients and in mouse models (43)(44)(45)(46). There was also increased exploratory behavior, decreased anxiety-like behavior, and decreased depression-like behavior, all comparable to behaviors characteristic of human mania.…”

The Modified Hole Board - Measuring Behavior, Cognition and Social Interaction in Mice and Rats

“…NOTE: Some behavioral parameters (e.g., motor-and exploratory behavior) might be scored automatically as e.g., discussed by Henry et al 19 after necessary adjustment of the mHB.…”