Comparison of Home-Cage Activity Systems Using Transgenic Mouse Lines and Pharmacological Interventions

Two variants of home-cage activity observation systems were used in this study: 1) the PhenoMaster (TSE Systems, Bad Homburg, Germany) and 2) the PhenoTyper (Noldus IT, Wageningen, The Netherlands). In both tests, animals were singly housed and subjected to a 12 hour light/dark cycle (lights on @ 7am, temperature 23 ± 2°C, relative humidity of 40 – 60 %) with free access to food and water. All experiments being performed in accordance with Home Office regulations. Mice were placed into the cages and given 2 days of habituation before assessment of circadian/ultradian activity over continuous day-night cycles.