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Mouse Behavior on ISS: The Emergence of Distinctive, Organized Group Circling Behavior Unique to SpaceflightAs interest in long duration effects of space habitation increases, understanding the behavior of model organisms living within the habitats engineered to fly them is vital for designing, validating, and interpreting future spaceflight studies. Only a handful of papers have previously reported behavior of mice and rats in the weightless environment of space (Andreev-Andrievskiy, et al., 2013; Cancedda et al., 2012; Ronca et al., 2008). The Rodent Research Hardware and Operations Validation Mission (Rodent Research-1; RR1) utilized the Rodent Habitat (RH) developed at NASA Ames Research Center to fly mice on the ISS. Ten adult (16-week-old) female C57BL6J mice were launched on September 21st, 2014 in an unmanned Dragon Capsule, and spent 37 days in flight. Here we report group behavioral phenotypes of the RR1 Flight (FLT) and environment-matched Ground Control (GC) mice in the RH during this long duration flight. Video was recorded for 34 days on the ISS, permitting daily assessments of overall health and well being of the mice, and providing a valuable repository for detailed behavioral analysis. As compared to GC mice, RR1 FLT mice exhibited the same range of behaviors, including eating, drinking, exploration, self- and allogrooming,and social interactions at similar or greater levels of occurrence. Overallactivity was greater in FLT as compared to GC mice, with spontaneous ambulatory behavior, including organized circling or race-tracking behavior that emerged within thefirst few days of flight following a common developmental sequence, comprising theprimary dark cycle activity of FLT mice. Circling participation by individual micepersisted throughout the mission. Analysis of group behavior over mission days revealed recruitment of mice into the group phenotype, coupled with decreasing numbers of collisions between circling mice. This analysis provides insights into the behavior of mice in microgravity, and clear evidence for the emergence of a distinctive,organized group behavior unique to the weightless space environment.
Document ID
20170011535
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Ronca, A. E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Moyer, E. L.
(Universities Space Research Association Boulder, CO, United States)
Talyansky, Y.
(Universities Space Research Association Boulder, CO, United States)
Solomides, P.
Choi, S.
(Wyle Labs., Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Gong, C.
(Wyle Labs., Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Globus, R. K.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
December 6, 2017
Publication Date
July 17, 2017
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Aerospace Medicine
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN44845
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Space Station Research and Development (ISSR&D) Conference
Location: Washington, DC
Country: United States
Start Date: July 17, 2017
End Date: July 20, 2017
Sponsors: American Astronautical Society
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA14AB82C
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX15AG98A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX13AJ38A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
mice
behavior
spacelfight
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