Elsevier

Vision Research

Volume 45, Issue 11, May 2005, Pages 1439-1446
Vision Research

The optomotor response: A robust first-line visual screening method for mice

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2004.12.015Get rights and content
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Abstract

In both scotopic and photopic conditions, the rotation of a grating was found to elicit head movements in mice. The highest spatial frequency eliciting this optomotor response provided an estimate of visual acuity. In male C57BL/6J mice, visual acuity increased from 0.26 cpd in scotopic conditions to 0.52 cpd in photopic conditions whereas it was 0.52 cpd in both sets of conditions in 129/SvPas mice. No optomotor response was detected in albino CD1 mice and rd1 retinal degeneration mice although light sensitivity in CD1 mice was attested by photophobia and normal electroretinograms. This rapid and cheap method could provide a powerful test of visual performance in genetically modified and pharmacologically treated mice.

Keywords

Mouse
Vision
Behavior
Optomotor response

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