ShEEP Request for Noldus EthoVision XT System

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The primary goal of this proposal is to establish a Functional Behavior Assessment/Phenotyping Core for clinically relevant rat models of disease that are highly critical for the advancement of translational biomedical research. The need for this critical core is based on several factors. First, in the last two years, the research portfolio that involves behavioral analyses and the number of investigators who use rat models have substantially increased at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center (RHJ VAMC). Second, with the recent advances in technology, the genetically modified rat models are becoming available, and this is highly attractive for our investigators who use complex instrumentation. The availability of a “rat” core will enable us to be at the forefront of this line of research. Third, the need for a “systems physiology approach” in behavioral research is increasingly recognized as complex brain-peripheral organ axes are being unraveled in many diseases including traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke, dementia, and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders, drug and alcohol addiction, chronic pain, cardiac disease including heart failure, hypertension and aortic aneurysms, and musculoskeletal pathologies (fracture healing, osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis), all of which disproportionately affect our Veterans. Accordingly, we propose to establish a core with an integrated system of behavior (designed for rats) and telemetry hardware that is driven by a central software control platform. The Noldus EthoVision XT System represents a state-of-the-art integrated system allowing for automated, quantitative, comprehensive behavioral and physiological assessment for each animal as a function of time, injury model, disease progression, or intervention. Using this integrative technology, four primary aims will pursued: 1) Provide a research platform that facilitates basic discovery with high translational potential; 2) Develop a research environment that fosters cross cultivation of disciplines to identify novel links between organ systems and diseases; 3) Test the efficacy of therapeutic strategies and interventional methodologies on functional outcomes and identify “personalizable” targets. and 4) Integrate behavioral, physiological and biochemical outcomes to provide comprehensive analysis of disease models. The Functional Behavior Assessment/Phenotyping Core is a necessity for the diverse research efforts of our local VAMC investigators who investigate TBI/SCI, stroke recovery, dementia, PTSD, chronic pain, cardio and cerebrovascular disease, immunology, and stem cell development and therapies. This Core will greatly strengthen the research capabilities of our station, serve as an excellent recruitment tool to attract new investigators to VA research, and facilitate basic scientific discovery leading to the rapid implementation of cutting-edge personalized medical treatment for our Veterans, a specific directive outlined in the Secretary’s Blueprint for Excellence that is directly relevant to the VA Mission.