Advanced video tracking and analysis system for animal behaviour research

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This application is for advanced software and equipment for the automated observation, video-tracking and behavioural analysis of various fish species and small mammals. Specifically, the requested state-of-the-art video-tracking software (EthoVision XT) and cameras will be used to monitor the activity of multiple adult fish at once, to quantify social interactions, to assess risk taking, and to study spatial memory in a T-maze arena. The video-tracking software will also be used to quantify several anxiety- and aggressive-type behaviours in wild eastern grey squirrels. A separate observation chamber (DanioVision) and the tracking software will be used to monitor the daily activities of multiple fish embryos or larvae simultaneously. Finally, the DanioScope software will be used with our zoom stereomicroscope to perform morphometric, cardiology, blood and gut flow measurements in fish larvae.******Together, this innovative technology will enable fast, high throughput, accurate, and consistent video-aided measurements of a broad range of behaviours and physiological parameters to address both fundamental and applied questions in stress physiology, aquatic toxicology, animal behaviour and ecophysiology. Specifically, the requested equipment will allow the co-applicants and their students to: 1) identify the short- and long-term behavioural and physiological effects of environmental stressors in zebrafish; 2) assess the physiological roles of stress hormones in the development and regulation of the heart and the gut in fish larvae; 3) determine whether chronic-stress mediated reductions in brain function impair adult zebrafish behaviors; 4) evaluate whether exposure to aquatic contaminants such as crude oil and synthetic estrogen from birth control pills can results in long-term cognitive impairment and behavioural inhibition in fish; 5) investigate the origins and consequences of personality differences in brook charr; 6) examine how individual larval lamprey respond to the chemical lampricides used for sea lamprey control; 7) understand the behavioural adjustments of wild eastern grey squirrels that inhabit urban landscapes; and 8) discover the behavioural and physiological adaptation of amphibious killifishes. ******By complementing existing facilities to perform analyses at the molecular, cellular, and physiological levels, the requested behavioural analysis system will open-up new opportunities to address broader interdisciplinary and integrative research questions and contribute to the development of remedial and preventive management strategies to limit the impact of humans on ecosystems.**