Three-Chamber Social Apparatus
Three-chamber apparatus with IR-transparent floor for tracking-ready videos.
Description
Imaging-compatible chamber
Chamber for social experiments in mice, adapted for combination with freely-moving imaging, fiber photometry, and electrophysiology. Demonstrator mice are placed in the two corner chambers, leaving the rest of the chamber accessible to the observer mouse. Slots in the corner barriers allow interaction (odors, social touch) between the observer mouse and demonstrator mice while a central barrier prevents interaction between the two demonstrator mice. Chamber is made entirely of smooth plastic, and all the barriers are removable, allowing easy cleaning.
Mounted on a table with wheels
The apparatus is mounted on a wheeled table (45cm deep x 70cm wide x 70cm high), with additional space for your recording station. A bracket can also be added to suit your needs, for installation of the various rotating joints. This apparatus simultaneously ensures high reproducibility and easy displacement of the ensemble from one experiment room to another.
Integrated camera to record videos ready for behavior tracking
Camera and infrared illumination are mounted on the frame, ensuring consistent alignment and field of view. The floor of the chamber is transparent only to infrared light, so the mice have the benefit of walking on an opaque floor while the experimenter has the advantage of filming from below; the resulting video has a clear image free of wires that is ideal for subsequent behavior tracking and analysis.
Additionally, the power source for the IR lamp is low-noise, allowing combination with electrophysiology.
Ideal chamber for several types of social behavior assays
Appropriate for social paradigms where one or two demonstrator mice are required. Including but not limited to:
- Social approach, social affiliation / sociability, social novelty preference, social recognition and memory
Moy et al., 2004, Genes Brain Behav - Emotion recognition
Dautan et al., 2024, Nat Neurosci