Share thisDevelopment of a core facility can encourage multi-disciplined research by providing equipment and expertise in a central location.
Behavior generally refers to the action or reaction of an organism due to external or internal stimuli. Scientists have used both in vivo and in vitro models to study human disorders, develop comprehensive maps of the brain, and to test substance toxicity as well as potential benefits of substances to a particular biological deficit. As life scientists are beginning to understand the complexity of the interactions between genes, environment, and the development of disorders, comprehensive studies looking at animal behavior are seen as a necessity. Behavioral studies have been widely applied in the study of learning and memory; depression; anxiety; neurological disorders including ALS, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Huntington Diseases (HD), prion disease, spinal cord injuries, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, epilepsy, drug abuse; social behaviors, maternal behaviors, and aggression.
Animals exhibit behaviors that are instinctual, learned, and enhanced. Instinctual behaviors are innate behaviors, typically thought to be fixed action patterns, and do not require prior experience or learning for the animal to demonstrate. Learned behaviors are modifications of behavior based on feedback from the environment. Behaviors can change or be influenced by genetic mutations, physiological conditions such as neurodegeneration, chemical imbalances, or due to environmental conditions placed on the animal such as with acute or chronic stress. In a broader spectrum, this would also apply to symptoms of psychiatric illness, but animals do not naturally exhibit these behaviors without gene or surgical interference.
Behavioral testing with an animal could include monitoring the animal in its home cage or the participation of the animal in an empirical cognitive challenge. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, or the observer effect model, suggests the mere act of observing an animal changes the behavior of the animal, making it more challenging to behavioral researchers to find adequate methods to observe and record animal behavior. The computer science and biomedical industries have developed numerous tools to assist researchers with behavioral testing including apparatus’ in which the tests occur, and software programs that recognize and measure the behaviors. However, behavioral testing equipment can be very expensive and therefore difficult for small academic labs to obtain.
The Case for a Core
Small research labs generally can afford only a few key pieces of equipment that are important to their study. Ambitious labs try to build some of their equipment and/or perform behavioral analysis using human observers to collect data about the animal’s behaviors and calculate measures from video recordings. There is great difficulty in ensuring these results are error free and remain harmonious across studies. Materials used in construction of the testing equipment need to meet certain standards because the smells from glue, paint, or porous surfaces that might hold urine or cleaner may change the animals behavior. In addition, individual researcher differences in behavior assessment as well as reaction times may significantly influence the data analysis, thereby confounding the results of the study. Even if all laboratory researchers were consistent in their findings and the analyses were replicated, there are numerous confounds to be considered. For instance, observers cannot easily calculate many measures, such as speed and distance traveled. However, innovative tools and automated software programs can now calculate these measures easily. Pooling funds to secure behavioral apparatuses as well automated software programs to analyze behaviors increases the potential that researchers would have a battery of behavioral tasks available to them. It also ensures accurate and reliable data collection, all of which would assist in maintaining scientific consistency — allowing results to be comparable across various studies regardless of the testing facility.