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Using Hidden Behavioral Patterns to Study Nausea in a Preclinical Model

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Discovering Hidden Temporal Patterns in Behavior and Interaction

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 111))

Abstract

Nausea is a common clinical symptom reported by many patients experiencing cytotoxic anticancer therapy, gastrointestinal disease, and postoperative recovery. Although the neurological basis of vomiting is reasonably well established, an understanding of the physiology of nausea is lacking. The primary barrier to mechanistic research on nausea is the lack of appropriate animal models. Indeed investigating the effects of anti-nausea drugs in preclinical models is difficult because the primary readout is suppression of vomiting. However, animals often show a behavioral profile of sickness, associated with reduced feeding and movement, and possibly these general behavioral measures are signs of nausea. Here we applied t-pattern analysis to determine patterns of behavior associated with emesis as a potential measure of nausea. Musk shrews were used for these experiments because they have a vomiting reflex and other laboratory animals (rats and mice) do not. Standard emetic test agents were used in Study 1, the chemotherapy agent cisplatin (intraperitoneal), and Study 2, nicotine (subcutaneous) and copper sulfate (intragastric). Emesis and other behaviors were coded and tracked from video files. T-pattern analysis revealed patterns of behavior associated with emesis. Long-term tests (3 days of continuous video recording) showed that eating and drinking, and other larger body movements, including rearing, grooming, and body rotation, were significantly less common in cisplatin-induced emesis-related behavioral patterns in real versus randomized data. Short-term experiments (30 min) using nicotine and copper sulfate showed no difference between male and female shrews but there were more behavioral patterns associated with nicotine compared to copper sulfate treatment. The current approach to behavioral analysis in a preclinical model for emesis using t-pattern analysis could be used to assess the effects of drugs used to control nausea and its potential correlates, including reduced feeding and changed activity levels.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biobehavioral Oncology Program, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Charles C. Horn

  2. Division Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Charles C. Horn

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Charles C. Horn

  4. Human Behavior Laboratory, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Magnus S. Magnusson

Authors
  1. Charles C. Horn
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  2. Magnus S. Magnusson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles C. Horn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Magnus S. Magnusson

  2. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Judee K. Burgoon

  3. Department of Bio.Ne.C., University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Maurizio Casarrubea

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Horn, C.C., Magnusson, M.S. (2016). Using Hidden Behavioral Patterns to Study Nausea in a Preclinical Model. In: Magnusson, M., Burgoon, J., Casarrubea, M. (eds) Discovering Hidden Temporal Patterns in Behavior and Interaction. Neuromethods, vol 111. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3249-8_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3249-8_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3248-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3249-8

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