In particular, there is a need for rigorous methodologies that can be carried out in a standardized and blinded fashion, with validated, reproducible, and translatable outcome measures. With the current advances in drug development for neuromuscular disorders, there is an increasing need for well-designed preclinical trials. These discrepancies are often attributed to publication bias, overoptimistic conclusions, and poorly designed and executed pre-clinical studies that lead to irreproducible results 1-3. Numerous “promising” preclinical studies are published each year however, very few of the proposed interventions show positive results when moved to clinical trial. In addition, we provide recommendations for optimal study design when using open field activity in a preclinical trial.Īnimal models have been useful for learning about disease mechanisms, but their utility in predicting treatment efficacy in clinical trials has frequently been challenged 1-3. We provide a discussion of important considerations, typical results, data analysis, and detail the strengths and weaknesses of open field testing. Overall, this manuscript provides a well-tested and standardized open field activity SOP for preclinical trials in animal models of neuromuscular diseases. In addition, room temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, and even odor can affect assessment outcomes. However, open field activity monitoring is also associated with significant challenges: Open field activity measurements vary according to animal strain, age, sex, and circadian rhythm.
#Breaks actimeter trial
In addition, measures such as total distance traveled mirror the 6 min walk test, a clinical trial outcome measure. It can also show how drugs may affect other body systems as well when used with additional outcome measures. The open field activity measurement provides a different measure than muscle strength, which is commonly assessed by grip strength measurements. It is a useful tool for assessing locomotive impairment in animal models of neuromuscular disease and efficacy of therapeutic drugs that may improve locomotion and/or muscle function. PTI.The open field activity monitoring system comprehensively assesses locomotor and behavioral activity levels of mice. "Many devices have tried to use activity to assess sleep structures, but our method is simple, transparent, and works especially in long-term recordings," Roenneberg said.
Those measures showed that movement patterns reflect sleep cycles and replicate the dynamics seen in the lab. The researchers called the new measure "locomotor inactivity during sleep" (LIDS). "It was flabbergasting how it clarified the structures," Roenneberg said. They used a simple conversion to measure inactivity (as opposed to activity) on a scale of near zero to 100, with 100 representing total inactivity. It was hard to discern the cyclical sleep patterns normally seen with other, more complicated devices in the lab.īy focusing on periods of inactivity during the night, a much clearer cyclical pattern began to emerge. However, the patterns of activity during sleep collected using the devices appeared rather messy. In the new study published in the journal Current Biology, the researchers looked at actimeter data collected over more than 20,000 days from 574 subjects, aged 8 to 92 years. The next step was to find a way to collect objective measurements of sleep characteristics on similarly large numbers of people. The team of researchers had been collecting information on sleep duration and quality via questionnaire.
"This will help many who have sleep problems and will hopefully increase the appreciation for the importance of sleep for our health and well-being," Till Roenneberg from LMU Munich said. The findings are the latest in a larger, ongoing human sleep project, designed to learn more about sleep and its essential role in our lives by collecting sleep data on thousands of people in the real world. The researchers from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) in Germany used the actimeters to assess rest/activity cycles not just over the course of the waking day, but also during sleep itself. The gadget, called actimeter, records data on wrist movement from which one can obtain activity patterns for up to three months. BERLIN: A new wrist-worn gadget may help people with sleep problems by objectively tracking their real-life sleep habits and quality, scientists say.
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