Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

This wireless telemetry system will allow us to track physiological measurements and electrical activity from the brain or body of a conscious, freely moving animal. Some examples of physiological measurements include heart rate, blood pressure, core body temperature, locomotor activity, and blood glucose. Some examples of electrical activity that will be measured include electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG), as both of these signals will let us determine the sleep and wake states of the animal at a given time. Traditional methods of capturing physiological or electrical activity can be onerous, invasive, and very stressful for the animal because they need to be bled or restrained, even momentarily, to obtain an accurate reading. This proposed telemetry system involves placing a small (volume 1.7 cc) and light (weight 2.2 g) plastic capsule under the skin of an animal to track their activity over time. We will be using these telemeters in male and female mice or rats, and we will use the wireless telemetry system to obtain a comprehensive physiological data to understand body weight control, development of Type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes, sleep-wake behaivor, response to new anti-depressant drugs, fever responses during neuroinflammation, pain processing, and the formation or stability of long-term memory. The unique gains from a wireless telemeter are that the animals are able to move freely in its home cage, so we are able to observe their naturalistic behaviors. These experiments are important because they will indicate the specific time points whereby a behavioral or physiological condition transitions from normal to pathological. This information is extremely valuable for understanding the time course of disease progression and offers invaluable insights to the development of new or more effect therapeutic strategies for obesity, diabetes, depression, inflammation, memory loss, or pain management. We are a team of high caliber researchers at different career stages and who already have experience using this instrument. Collectively, we cover a broad range of research programs on the brain and spinal cord, and the availability of this instrument will be available upon sign-up in an open and transparent manner. Working with this instrument will give our trainees exceptional training in complex surgeries for implantation and give them training on highly sought after techniques to facilitate their post-graduate transition to the workplace.