[Bioinformatics Project] Analysis of home-cage activity in group-living rats and mice acquired through RFID technology

Activity and movement are fundamental diagnostic parameters of animal behaviour. However, measuring long-term individual movement within groups was not possible until recently. Our ActivityMonitor provides accurate individual movement data in a fully automated way. This is a unique solution for the 24/7 long-term tracking of individual animals living in groups, which utilises an array of RFID readers positioned under the home cage of rats and mice that are implanted with RFID transponders. The AcitivtyMonitor is connected via an automated sorting mechanism to a touchscreen testing chamber, in which we present images on a screen that are paired with reward-based outomes and result in the delivery of sugar pellets. With touschreen testing we can study various aspects of reward-learning and cognitive behaviour and, combined with RFID technology, we reveal complexity in individual learning styles. It is also the case that learning changes an animal’s behaviour, which, in turn can change the behaviour of the social group. This system therefore has the capacity to inform us about how feedback from reinforcement learning changes social and cognitive behaviour over time.   
By analysing the data output from ActivityMonitor, this project will provide answers to the following questions:
1. How do rats and mice behave in the home-cage, before, during and after cognitive training?
2. How does this behaviour change, depending on the time of day?
3. Can we identify, through RFID movement data, a social heirarchy in group-living rats and mice?

For more information, contact the primary supervisor Dr Claire Foldi <claire.foldi@monash.edu>