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B04 - Identifying inflection signals through continuous long-term monitoring of changes in affect and expectations in genetic rat models for affective disorders

Markus Wöhr, Carsten Culmsee

Rodent models for affective disorders that enable the detection of symptom changes and their long-term trajectories with high temporal resolution are warranted. To this aim, we apply a gene x environment interaction approach by exposing genetic rat models to environmental risk factors. Our novel experimental strategy aimed at the identification of symptom changes includes continuous and intermittent long-term monitoring of locomotor activity and/or social distancing in a semi-natural environment, together with the assessment of concomitant changes in key cognitive-emotional mechanisms, namely affect and expectations, in real time through measuring ultrasonic vocalizations.