EFFICIENT METHODS TO DETECT TASTE ABNORMALITIES IN MICE

描述（改编自申请人摘要）：味觉溶液验收是一项 复杂的行为，可以很容易地测量。异味溶液 接受可能是由于味觉的破坏或神经系统的改变。 或生理过程。这是一项改进现有方法的建议， 评估味道溶液的接受度，以便它们可以用于筛选大量 对小鼠有三个具体目标。首先是微调 长期的两瓶选择测试我们会比较一下 C57 BL/6 J和129/SvJ小鼠组在系统性给药期间的溶液摄入量 操作饮水瓶瓶口位置，饮水次数 瓶，测试持续时间，维持饮食和受试者的年龄。 进一步的研究将确定哪些味道解决方案会产生残留 影响（即，在一次试验中摄入的溶液对溶液的影响） 在随后的测试中摄入），并探索消除它们的程序。的 第二个具体目标涉及优化曝光或“粘度计” test.拟定研究将确定适当的溶液浓度 和测试条件，以优化发现小鼠的可能性， 异常味觉表型最后一个具体目标是建立 用于随后鉴定具有异常味觉的小鼠的参考数据 表型将通过测试大量的 C57 BL/6 J和129/SvJ小鼠根据在本发明中建立的程序， 以前的目标。其他品系的小鼠，包括那些 已知的味觉溶液接受异常，也将在 为了说明测试如何区分具有味觉的小鼠， 赤字提案中有一节专门讨论行政问题， 包括用于传播测试方法和结果的程序。 这包括编写一份详细的培训手册， 结果，并探索其他方式提供方法和参考数据， 感兴趣的各方。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): Taste solution acceptance is a complex behavior that can be easily measured. Abnormal taste solution acceptance can be due to the disruption of taste perception or altered neural or physiological processes. This is a proposal to refine existing methods of assessing taste solution acceptance so they can be used to screen large numbers of mice. There are three specific aims. The first involves fine-tuning long-term, two-bottle choice tests. A comparison will be made between taste solution intakes of groups of C57BL/6J and 129/SvJ mice during systematic manipulations of drinking bottle spout position, the number of drinking bottles, the test duration, the maintenance diet, and the subjects' age. Additional studies will determine which taste solutions produce carry-over effects (that is, the influence of a solution ingested in one test on solution intake in subsequent tests) and explore procedures to eliminate them. The second specific aim involves optimization of the brief-exposure or "lickometer" test. The proposed studies will establish appropriate solution concentrations and test conditions to optimize the likelihood of discovering mice with aberrant taste phenotypes. The final specific aim involves establishing reference data for the subsequent identification of mice with aberrant taste phenotypes. Normative data will be provided by testing large numbers of C57BL/6J and 129/SvJ mice according to the procedures established in the previous aims. Smaller groups of mice of other strains, including those with known abnormalities of taste solution acceptance, will also be screened in order to illustrate how the tests discriminate among mice with taste perception deficits. A section of the proposal is devoted to administrative issues, including the procedures to be used to disseminate test methods and results. This involves developing a detailed training manual, publishing a database of results, and exploring other ways of providing methods and reference data to interested parties.