Device for simulating mouse hunting and avoiding state conversion

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of animal behavioral experiments, in particular to a device for simulating mouse hunting and avoiding state conversion. According to the technical scheme, the device comprises a wooden soundproof box, a box door is hinged to one side of the wooden soundproof box through a plane turnover industrial hinge, and an infrared night vision USB camera used for shooting the state of a mouse is arranged on the inner wall of the wooden soundproof box; an experiment box used for measuring hunting and avoiding behaviors of mice is arranged in the wooden soundproof box. Different visual images are presented, a mouse can receive multi-azimuth and multi-angle visual information in the experiment box at the same time, a complex scene where preys and natural enemies possibly appear at the same time in the natural environment is simulated, and the visual stimulation speed and magnitude of the mouse can be adjusted by adjusting variables such as the speed and magnitude of visual stimulation. Behavior reaction modes of the mouse under situations of different difficulties and different threat degrees are researched, and researchers can conveniently observe and analyze various behavior modes of the mouse in different state conversion processes.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of ethology experiments of animals, and in particular to a device for simulating the state conversion of mice's hunting and avoidance behaviors. Background Art

[0002] Hunting and evading natural enemies are crucial for the survival and reproduction of animals. Mice can accurately detect, locate, and identify upcoming threats based on their own sensory information. This self-protective state is essential for the survival of mice. However, in order to seek survival, mice are forced to leave their safe shelters to hunt. In the situation of facing both danger and hunting, mice need to quickly switch between these two behavioral states to minimize the possibility of being killed. This behavioral switch involves complex neural mechanisms and environmental perception abilities and is an important model for studying animal behavior and neuroscience.

[0003] Most of the existing ethology experimental devices for mice study single behaviors. For example, the behavioral paradigm for mice to avoid natural enemies is the looming model (looming can represent a continuously approaching dark visual stimulus). This paradigm uses a dark visual stimulus that continuously approaches above the mice's heads, increases in size, imitating the rapid advance of a flying predator, a mouse's natural enemy, and also sets up a simple shelter to provide the mice with the opportunity to seek safety. The looming device is mainly used to study defensive behaviors and cannot study hunting behaviors and the conversion of defensive behaviors. In the experiment on studying the predatory behavior of mice, mice and crickets are placed together, and the neural circuits related to predation are studied by observing the predatory behavior of mice on crickets. However, in this predatory behavior paradigm, the crickets will be eaten by the mice, resulting in the loss of the target and bringing difficulties to behavior tracking. In addition, due to the small size and short activity time of crickets, it is difficult for the tracking system to accurately collect the frames in which the crickets exist, and dataset balancing processing needs to be carried out. Neither of these two ethology devices can simulate the conversion of hunting and avoidance behaviors at the same time. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a device that can detect the state conversion of mice's hunting and avoidance behaviors. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the problems existing in the above-mentioned looming model and the predatory behavior paradigm of mice, the present invention proposes a device for simulating the state conversion of mice's hunting and avoidance behaviors.

[0005] Technical solution of the present invention: A device for simulating the state conversion of mice's hunting and evading, comprising: a wooden sound-insulating box, one side of the wooden sound-insulating box is hinged with a box door through a flat-fold industrial hinge, and the inner wall of the wooden sound-insulating box is provided with an infrared night vision USB camera for photographing the behavioral state of mice; an experimental box for measuring the hunting and evading behaviors of mice is arranged inside the wooden sound-insulating box, the experimental box is spliced by porcelain white acrylic plates and transparent acrylic plates, and an opaque triangular prism shelter is arranged inside the experimental box; a first 21.5-inch LCD display screen and a second 21.5-inch LCD display screen are arranged on the inner top surface and the left side of the wooden sound-insulating box, and a third 21.5-inch LCD display screen is arranged outside the box door of the flat-fold industrial hinge; a computer host for controlling the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen is arranged outside the wooden sound-insulating box.

[0006] Optionally, a stainless steel duckbill tower buckle is arranged on the outer wall of the wooden sound-insulating box.

[0007] Optionally, the bottom surface, the front, back and right surfaces of the experimental box are porcelain white acrylic plates, the left surface of the experimental box is a transparent acrylic plate, and the porcelain white acrylic plates and the transparent acrylic plates are spliced by acrylic glue.

[0008] Optionally, the outer surfaces of the porcelain white acrylic plates and the transparent acrylic plates are coated with a matte coating.

[0009] Optionally, the computer host is connected to the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen through VGA connecting wires.

[0010] Optionally, the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen are fixedly connected to the wooden sound-insulating box and the box door of the wooden sound-insulating box through M3 countersunk cross screws.

[0011] Optionally, the infrared night vision USB camera is fixed on the inner wall of the wooden sound-insulating box through a PD stainless steel optical rod, and the infrared night vision USB camera is connected to the computer host through a USB connecting wire.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial technical effects:

[0013] In the present invention, a first 21.5-inch LCD display screen and a second 21.5-inch LCD display screen are respectively arranged on the inner top surface and the left side of the wooden soundproof box, so as to simultaneously provide two kinds of visual stimulation information, which is closer to the effect of a complex situation in the natural environment. The two LCD display screens can respectively present different visual images, enabling the mice in the experimental box to simultaneously receive visual information from multiple directions and angles, simulating a complex scene where prey and natural enemies may appear simultaneously in the natural environment. Moreover, the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen can cooperate with the infrared night vision USB camera, facilitating the researchers to observe the behavioral states of the experimental mice in the box in real time;

[0014] Furthermore, in the present invention, the speed and size parameters of the visual stimulation of prey and natural enemies are adjusted through the first and second display screens, providing various combinations of visual stimulation of prey and natural enemies to study the behavioral states of mice in different situations.

[0015] Even further, in the present invention, an opaque triangular prism shelter placed inside the experimental box can provide a hiding place for the mice. Combining with the infrared night vision USB camera, the behavioral states of the mice during the experiment can be observed and recorded in real time, and the two LCD display screens provide visual stimulation of prey and natural enemies, realizing the study of various behavioral states of mice during the hunting and hiding experiments (including chasing, attacking, freezing, escaping, etc.). Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 is the internal front view of the device for converting the hunting and hiding states of mice in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 is the external front view of the device for converting the hunting and hiding states of mice in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 is the dangerous visual stimulation of the LCD display screen on the top of the experimental box of the device for converting the hunting and hiding states of mice in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 is the prey visual stimulation of the LCD display screen on the left side of the experimental box of the device for converting the hunting and hiding states of mice in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 5 is the top view of the experimental box of the device for converting the hunting and hiding states of mice in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Reference Signs:

[0022] 1. Flat folding industrial hinge; 2. Wooden soundproof box; 3. M3 countersunk cross screw; 4. First 21.5-inch LCD display screen; 5. Infrared night vision USB camera; 6. Stainless steel duckbill tower buckle; 7. VGA connection cable; 8. Computer host; 9. Porcelain white acrylic board; 10. Transparent acrylic board; 11. Second 21.5-inch LCD display screen; 12. Third 21.5-inch LCD display screen; 13. Opaque triangular prism shelter. Detailed implementation mode

[0023] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments.

[0024] The components of the embodiments of the present invention usually described and shown in the accompanying drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely represents the selected embodiments of the present invention.

[0025] All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0027] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection", "connection" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific situations.

[0028] Embodiment

[0029] Such as Figure 1 And Figure 2As shown in the figure, a device for simulating the state conversion of mouse hunting and evasion proposed by the present invention includes a wooden soundproof box 2, and the inner wall of the soundproof box 2 is provided with soundproof sponges to weaken the transmission of environmental noise. One side of the wooden soundproof box 2 is hinged with a box door through a flat folding industrial hinge 1, and the box door is a single-opening type. In order to ensure the stability of the box door after closing, a stainless steel duckbill tower buckle 6 is installed on the outer wall of the wooden soundproof box 2. By buckling this tower buckle, the box door can be tightly closed, effectively isolating external interfering sounds and creating a quiet environment for mouse experiments.

[0030] Furthermore, an infrared night vision USB camera 5 is fixed to the inner wall of the wooden soundproof box 2 by means of PD stainless steel optical support rods, and the diameter of the PD stainless steel optical support rods is 12.7 mm. This camera is connected to a computer host 8 through a USB connection cable. The infrared night vision USB camera 5 can clearly observe and record the behavior state of mice in a dark environment. The infrared night vision USB camera 5 records the behavior state of experimental mice during the experiment by connecting to the PotPlayer video software. The obtained video data set marks the body, nose, ears and tail of the experimental mice through the DeepLabCut pose estimation software, enabling pose estimation and motion tracking of the mice, and outputting the position and pose information of the mice. Then, further analysis and research are carried out on this information to study the behavior states of mice such as hunting, evasion, approaching and freezing during the experiment.

[0031] As Figure 1 and Figure 5 shown in the figure, an experimental box composed of a porcelain white acrylic board 9 and a transparent acrylic board 10 is arranged inside the wooden soundproof box 2 for studying the behavior conversion of mouse hunting and evasion. The bottom surface, the front, back and right sides of the experimental box are all made of porcelain white acrylic board 9, and the left side is made of transparent acrylic board 10. The two plates are tightly spliced through acrylic glue. At the same time, a matte coating is sprayed on the surfaces of the porcelain white acrylic board 9 and the transparent acrylic board 10 to reduce the influence of light reflection on the behavior of mice. An opaque triangular prism shelter 13 is arranged inside the experimental box to provide a shelter for mice.

[0032] As Figures 1 to 5 shown in the figure, a first 21.5-inch LCD display screen 4 is installed on the inner top surface of the wooden soundproof box 2, a second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 is installed on the left side, and a third 21.5-inch LCD display screen 12 is installed on the outside of the box door of the flat folding industrial hinge 1. The three display screens are respectively fixed to the wooden soundproof box 2 and the box door through M3 countersunk cross screws 3 to ensure firm installation. The computer host 8 is connected to the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen 4, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen 12 through a VGA connection cable 7 to realize the simultaneous presentation of visual stimuli on multiple display screens.

[0033] Specifically, asFigure 3 , Figure 4 As shown in Figure 4 , during actual use, a mouse is placed in the experimental box, and visual stimulus images simulating predators and prey are played on the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen 4 and the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 to induce behaviors such as hunting and evading in the mouse. The infrared night vision USB camera 5 observes and records the behavioral state of the mouse in the experimental box in real time. After the experiment, the video data set recorded by the infrared night vision USB camera 5 is analyzed through behavioral analysis software, so as to realize the simulation and research on the conversion of the hunting and evading states of the mouse.

[0034] The working principle of this embodiment is as follows:

[0035] Adaptation stage: Before the formal experiment, let the mouse freely explore on the experimenter's palm and arm for 10 minutes, so that the mouse gradually gets familiar with the experimenter's smell and reduces the unfamiliarity and fear of the mouse towards the experimenter during the experiment.

[0036] Once in the morning and once in the evening every day, open the door of the wooden soundproof box 2, place the mouse in the experimental box, close the door and lock the stainless steel duckbill tower buckle 6. Let the mouse freely explore in the experimental box for 10 minutes each time. During this period, observe the behavior of the mouse in the experimental box through the infrared night vision USB camera 5, such as the activity route, the exploration of the opaque triangular prism shelter 13, etc., but do not conduct additional interference, so that the mouse gradually adapts to the environment of the experimental box.

[0037] Before the experiment starts: Open the wooden soundproof box 2, place the mouse in the experimental box, close the door and lock it. Ensure that the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen 4 and the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 are in the closed state to avoid visual stimulation. Turn on the infrared night vision USB camera 5, and observe and record the activity level of the mouse in the experimental box, such as the moving distance, speed, exploration behaviors such as the number of sniffs, the frequency of entering different areas, etc. under the condition of no visual stimulation. The recording time is determined according to the experimental requirements and used as the basic data for subsequent data analysis and comparison.

[0038] After the experiment starts: 5 minutes before the experiment starts, place the mouse in the experimental box, keep there is no visual stimulation in the experimental box, and let the mouse freely move in the experimental box to adapt to the environment. 5 minutes later, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 on the left side of the experimental box plays a visual stimulus imitating the movement of a prey cricket, that is, a 2 cm X 1 cm black oval visual stimulus is kept at a height of 1 cm from the bottom of the screen and moves back and forth at a speed of 15 cm / s.

[0039] After the visual stimulus starts to play, the infrared night vision USB camera 5 is used to observe the behavior of the mice in real time within 60 seconds, and information such as the number of times and duration of the mice's immobility, approaching, chasing, or other hunting-related behaviors is recorded. When the number of times the mice approach the visual stimulus of the prey gradually increases, this experiment is stopped and preparations are made to enter the next experimental stage.

[0040] When conducting the experiment on the conversion between hunting and evasion states: 5 minutes before the start of the experiment, the mice are placed in the experimental box. With no visual stimulus in the experimental box, the mice are allowed to move freely to adapt to the environment.

[0041] After 5 minutes, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 11 on the left side of the experimental box plays a visual stimulus imitating the movement of the prey cricket, that is, a 2 cm X 1 cm black oval visual stimulus is maintained at a height of 1 cm below the screen and moves back and forth at a speed of 15 cm / s. At the same time, the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen 4 on the top of the experimental box plays a visual danger stimulus simulating the dive of the mouse's natural enemy, the eagle, that is, a black disc with a diameter of 4 cm gradually expands to 20 cm within 0.5 seconds, stabilizes at its maximum size for 1 second and then disappears, and this stimulus reappears again after an interval of 3 s, and it cycles 10 times in total. At the same time, as the black disc of the visual danger stimulus expands continuously on the top of the experimental box, the overall brightness of the experimental box will decrease.

[0042] During the whole experiment, the infrared night vision USB camera 5 is used to observe and record in detail the behavior of the mice when facing the visual stimulus of the prey and the visual danger stimulus at the same time. Focus is placed on the conversion between the hunting behavior and the evasion behavior of the mice, such as when the mice hide in the opaque triangular prism shelter 13, when they freeze, when they approach the prey, etc. The time, duration, frequency, and other information of these behaviors are recorded. After the visual danger stimulus cycles 10 times, the experiment is stopped, the mice are taken out, and the experimental data is sorted out.

[0043] The above specific embodiments are merely an optional embodiment of the present invention. Based on the technical solution of the present invention and the relevant inspirations of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can make various alternative improvements and combinations to the above specific embodiments.

Claims

1. A device for simulating the state transition of mouse hunting and evasion, characterized in that Including: A wooden soundproof box (2), one side of the wooden soundproof box (2) is hinged with a box door through a flat folding industrial hinge (1), and an infrared night vision USB camera (5) for photographing the behavioral state of mice is arranged on the inner wall of the wooden soundproof box (2); An experimental box for measuring the hunting and avoidance behaviors of mice is arranged inside the wooden soundproof box (2), the experimental box is spliced by a porcelain white acrylic plate (9) and a transparent acrylic plate (10), and an opaque triangular prism shelter (13) is arranged inside the experimental box; A first 21.5-inch LCD display screen (4) and a second 21.5-inch LCD display screen (11) are arranged on the inner top surface and the left side of the wooden soundproof box (2), and a third 21.5-inch LCD display screen (12) is arranged outside the box door of the flat folding industrial hinge (1); A computer mainframe (8) for controlling the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen (4), the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen (11) and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen (12) is arranged outside the wooden soundproof box (2).

2. The simulation mouse hunting and evasion state conversion device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A stainless steel duckbill tower buckle (6) for limiting the box door is arranged on the outer wall of the wooden soundproof box (2).

3. A device for simulating the state transition of mouse hunting and evasion according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom surface, the front, back and right surfaces of the experimental box are made of porcelain white acrylic plates (9), the left surface of the experimental box is made of a transparent acrylic plate (10), and the porcelain white acrylic plate (9) and the transparent acrylic plate (10) are spliced by acrylic glue.

4. A device for simulating the state transition of mouse hunting and evasion according to claim 1, characterized in that: The surfaces of the porcelain white acrylic plate (9) and the transparent acrylic plate (10) are sprayed with a matte coating.

5. A device for simulating the state transition of mouse hunting and avoidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: The computer mainframe (8) is connected to the first 21.5-inch LCD display screen (4), the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen (11) and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen (12) through a VGA connecting wire (7).

6. The simulated mouse hunting and evasion state conversion device according to claim 1, wherein: The first 21.5-inch LCD display screen (4), the second 21.5-inch LCD display screen (11) and the third 21.5-inch LCD display screen (12) are fixedly connected to the wooden soundproof box (2) and the box door of the wooden soundproof box (2) through M3 countersunk cross screws (3).

7. An apparatus for simulating the state transition of mouse hunting and evasion according to claim 1, characterized in that: The infrared night vision USB camera (5) is fixed on the inner wall of the wooden soundproof box (2) through a PD stainless steel optical support rod, and the infrared night vision USB camera (5) is connected to the computer mainframe (8) through a USB connecting wire.

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