Mice are placed into specially designed home cages with infrared photobeams to record locomotor activity. The configuration of the photobeams allows for the precise tracking of the animals' activity and generates a record of movement across the X, Y, and Z axis. This allows for the continuous monitoring of mouse behavior to compare differences across groups, strains, sexes, etc. Mice live in the modified home cages for a week and are provided with ad libitum food and water. A regular light-dark cycle allows for behavior to be compared across circadian periods.
Mang & Franken (2012)
Mice in their home cage are placed inside a faraday cage under a controlled light/dark cycle and EEG/EMG activity recorded on implanted electrodes is continuously monitored through a multichannel tethered amplifier system. General activity levels and sleep state are scored based on the combined EEG and EMG activity across all channels.