Advanced video tracking and analysis system for animal behaviour research

这一应用是用于对各种鱼类和小型哺乳动物进行自动观察、视频跟踪和行为分析的先进软件和设备。具体地说，所要求的最先进的视频跟踪软件(EthoVision XT)和摄像机将用于同时监测多条成年鱼的活动，量化社会互动，评估冒险行为，并研究T形迷宫竞技场的空间记忆。视频跟踪软件还将被用来量化野生东部灰松鼠的几种焦虑和攻击性行为。将使用单独的观察室(DanioVision)和跟踪软件同时监测多个鱼胚胎或幼体的日常活动。最后，DanioScope软件将与我们的变焦立体显微镜一起用于测量鱼类幼体的形态、心脏、血液和肠道流量。*结合起来，这项创新技术将能够对广泛的行为和生理参数进行快速、高通量、准确和一致的视频辅助测量，以解决应激生理学、水生毒理学、动物行为和生态生理学中的基本和应用问题。具体地说，所要求的设备将允许共同申请者和他们的学生：1)识别环境应激源对斑马鱼的短期和长期行为和生理影响；2)评估应激激素在鱼类幼体心脏和肠道的发育和调节中的生理作用；3)确定慢性应激介导的大脑功能下降是否损害成年斑马鱼的行为；4)评估暴露于原油和避孕药合成雌激素等水生污染物是否会导致鱼类的长期认知障碍和行为抑制；5)调查河豚性格差异的来源和后果；6)研究个体幼体对用于控制七鳃鳗的化学杀菌剂的反应；7)了解生活在城市景观中的野生东部灰松鼠的行为调整；以及8)发现两栖杀鼠器的行为和生理适应。*通过补充在分子、细胞和生理层面进行分析的现有设施，所要求的行为分析系统将为解决更广泛的跨学科和综合性研究问题开辟新的机会，并有助于制定补救和预防管理战略，以限制人类对生态系统的影响。

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.**