Programmable electronic maze for use in the assessment of animal behavior

• US 20030024482A1
• Filed: 08/05/2002
• Published: 02/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daniela Brunner, Vijay Gondhalekar
• Original Assignee: Daniela Brunner, Vijay Gondhalekar
• Inventors: Gondhalekar, Vijay, Brunner, Daniela
• Granted Patent: US 6,837,184 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 119/417
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/031 Cages for laboratory animals; Cages for measuring metabolism of animals
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/035 Devices for use in keeping domestic animals, e.g. fittings in housings or dog beds
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/02 Training or exercising equipment, e.g. mazes or labyrinths for animals A01K15/04 takes precedence; Electric shock devices circuits therefor H03K3/537; Toys specially adapted for animals
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 29/005 Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 38/00 Medicinal preparations containing peptides peptides containing beta-lactam rings A61K31/00; cyclic dipeptides not having in their molecule any other peptide link than those which form their ring, e.g. piperazine-2,5-diones, A61K31/00; ergot alkaloids of the cyclic peptide type A61K31/48; containing macromolecular compounds having statistically distributed amino acid units A61K31/74; medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies A61K39/00; medicinal preparations characterised by the non-active ingredients, e.g. peptides as drug carriers, A61K47/00

Abstract

A system and method for studying a test subject includes monitoring the test subject as it traverses through a programmable maze. The test subject may be under the influence of experimental drugs or genetic manipulation. The dynamic maze can be changed automatically or manually to test the abilities of the test subject. The dynamic maze comprises of a starting point, an ending point, and an electronically programmable floor capable of constructing various obstacles and passageways. The programmable floor may be programmed by a human user using an interface, or it may be programmed by an automated control system that programs the maze in accordance with the ability of the test subject to traverse the maze. Various devices are incorporated with the use of the maze to monitor the activities and welfare of the test subject.

Claims

1. A dynamic maze, comprising:

at least one removable obstacle wherein the obstacle is under the control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing the obstacle into the maze.

2. The maze according to claim 1, further comprising a logic component that configures the maze and is responsive to the ability of the test subject to traverse the maze.

3. The maze according to claim 2, further comprising a clock component for measuring time required by the test subject to traverse all or a portion of the maze such that the logic component receives time data for use in determining the configuration of the maze.

4. The maze according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle transmits a primary stimulus to the test subject in a rewarding or noxious manner.

5. The maze according to claim 4, further comprising a secondary stimulus that can reinforce or conflict with the primary stimulus.

6. The maze according to claim 1 further comprising a monitor to observe the behavior of the test subject.

7. A dynamic maze, comprising:

an enclosure for holding a test subject; and

a maze having at least one removable obstacle wherein the obstacle is under the control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing the obstacle into the maze.

8. The dynamic maze according to claim 7, wherein the enclosure is a cage suitable for housing a laboratory animal.

9. The dynamic maze according to claim 7, wherein the maze is configured to concurrently study a plurality of test subjects.

10. The dynamic maze according to claim 7, wherein the test subject is a laboratory animal.

11. The dynamic maze according to claim 7, wherein the test subject is a mouse.

12. A dynamic maze, comprising:

an enclosure for holding a test subject;

a maze having at least one removable obstacle wherein the obstacle is under the control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing the obstacle into the maze; and

a controller having a logic system configured to control the design of the maze without manual input from a user.

13. A dynamic maze for studying a test subject, comprising:

a programmable flooring having a plurality of floor plates such that each floor plate is capable of being a reward or punishment to the test subject traversing the maze.

14. The maze of claim 13 wherein the flooring is programmable manually by a user.

15. The maze according to claim 13 wherein the flooring is responsive to the behavior of the test subject traversing the maze.

16. A dynamic maze, comprising:

at least one removable obstacle wherein the obstacle is under the control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing the obstacle into the maze; and

a controller having a logic system configured to control the design of the maze.

17. The maze according to claim 16 further including at least one tube disposed thereon, the tube configured to entrap a test subject such that the test subject can only traverse through the tube in one direction.

18. The maze according to 17, wherein the tube further includes at least one floor plate capable of being an obstacle.

19. The maze according to claim 16, further including at least one incline means, the incline means configured to be an obstacle to a test subject in the maze such that the incline means is responsive to the ability of the test subject to traverse through the maze.

20. The maze according to claim 19, wherein the incline means comprises of at least one floor plate.

21. The maze according to claim 16, further including at least one flooring such that the flooring is movable for creating an obstacle for a test subject traversing through the maze.

22. The maze according to claim 16, wherein the flooring further comprises at least one stilt that is rotatable about the flooring such that the stilt creates an obstacle for the test subject.

23. The maze according to claim 22, wherein the stilt is adjustable to various angles in relationship to the flooring.

24. The maze according to claim 16, further including a collapsible flooring, the flooring being able to expose a wall that creates an obstacle for the test subject.

25. The maze according to claim 24, further including a user interface for manual operation of the collapsible flooring.

26. The maze according to claim 24, wherein the controller controls the collapsible floor based on the behavior of the test subject traversing the maze.

27. A method of re-configuring a maze, comprising:

receiving data from a test subject in the maze; and

re-configuring the design of the maze based on the data without intervention from a user.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the data is transmitted from the maze.

29. A method of assessing the ability of a test subject to solve a maze, comprising:

delivering rewarding and noxious stimulus to the test subject depending on the path taken by the test subject in the maze; and

re-configuring the maze without user intervention based on the ability of the test subject to traverse through the maze.

30. A method to assess the ability of an animal to solve mazes of differing complexities, comprising:

recording the ability of the test subject to traverse through the maze; and

re-configuring the maze without user intervention to various levels of complexity based on the ability of the test subjects to traverse the maze.

31. A dynamic maze, comprising:

at least one obstacle wherein the obstacle is under the control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing the obstacle into the maze such that the maze rapidly re-configures for measurement of different behavioral responses of a test subject.

32. The dynamic maze according to claim 31, wherein the obstacle vibrates.

33. The dynamic maze according to claim 31, wherein the obstacle is a moving single floor.

34. The dynamic maze according to claim 33, wherein the flooring moves is a single direction.

35. The dynamic maze according to claim 33, wherein the flooring moves in multiple directions.

36. The dynamic maze according to claim 31, wherein the obstacle is a plurality of moving floor plates.

37. The dynamic maze according to claim 36, wherein the floor plates move in concert.

38. The dynamic maze according to claim 36, wherein the floor plates move individually such that a portion of floor plates are still and a portion of the floor plates are moving.

39. The dynamic maze according to claim 36, wherein the floor plates all move individually.

40. The dynamic maze according to claim 36, wherein the floor plates move in different directions.