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NeuroBehavior Laboratory


Background

Mouse models have become a popular and successful tool for elucidating the physiological and pathological roles of individual genes, testing new therapies, and characterizing the impact of existing treatments. The increasing demand for mouse behavioral studies within the neuroscience community led the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center in partnership with Brigham & Women's Hospital to develop a major new, state-of-the-art mouse behavior laboratory. The NeuroBehavior Laboratory (NBL), located in the Longwood medical area, was carefully designed to meet the exacting standards required for this type of work. We have three parallel and interconnected aims:

  • We undertake long term collaborations with PIs to better understand both emerging and well-established mouse models and what they can tell us about important neurological conditions.

  • We develop new paradigms and protocols aimed at improving mouse neurobehavioral research and we analyze and interpret the impact of a genetic, surgical or pharmacologic manipulation on specific behaviors.

  • We work with collaborating PIs on pilot projects.


Resources

Laboratory Space

The NBL is a ~3000 sq. ft. lab facility located on the 9th floor of the Harvard Institute of Medicine building (see map and directions). It comprises 11 behavioral testing rooms, 1 surgery/pathology room, an animal colony room, as well as office space for the lab staff and workstations for visiting investigators. The design of the facility takes into consideration the highest standards for conducting mouse behavioral research and for complying with regulatory guidelines related to animal research.

Equipment

The behavioral equipment at the NBL includes 32 Standard Size Operant Chambers (Med Associates), 16 Metabolic Activity Chambers (CLAMS, Columbus Instruments), 1 Water Maze Pool (TSE), 2 Radial Arm Mazes (Lafayette Instruments), 16 Mouse Open Field Chambers (Med Associates), 1 rotarod (Ugo Basile), 1 Grip Strength Meter (Ugo Basile), 10 Y-mazes (custom made, Plastic Crafts), 12 Large Open Field Square Arenas (custom made, Plastic Crafts), 8 Startle Sensitivity / PPI Chambers (Med Associates), 1 T-Maze (custom made, Harvard Shop). For most behavioral tests, data collection is performed using specialized software provided by the respective suppliers (Med Associates; Columbus Instruments), or by computer-assisted video-tracking systems (CleverSys Inc.).

Animal Housing

The animal colony room is located within the lab and functions as a satellite animal facility of the HIM/NRB vivarium. It has been designed for a maximum capacity of 800 cages on high-density ventilated (Tecniplast) cage racks, providing enough flexibility for both short-term and long-term projects. Harvard Center for Comparative Medicine (HCCN) staff provide husbandry and veterinary care for the mice.

Behavioral Tests

The battery of behavioral tests available at the NBL allows a comprehensive assessment of neurological functions (motor coordination/agility, strength, exploratory activity, metabolic activity), emotional responses (anxiety, depression, startle sensitivity, and frustration), sensori-motor gating (pre-pulse inhibition) and cognitive functions (attention, working memory, recognition memory, spatial learning and memory, procedural learning and memory, extinction learning, reversal learning, contextual fear memory). For a summary of the most significant tests, please click here.

Surgery / Necropsy

Often it is necessary to either perform surgery prior to behavioral testing or collect tissue samples after completion of a behavioral study. For that purpose, a surgery / necropsy room is incorporated into the NBL. It is equipped for stereotaxic surgery (lesions, icv cannulations, intrathecal injections, etc.) and for necropsy / tissue collection (plasma/blood, CSF, brain tissues, other tissues).


Working with Us

The NBL provides a collaborative research environment for those interested in using mouse behavior to help them understand and treat disorders of the CNS.

Please note that the exacting requirements of our local Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (and in particular the rules governing the transfer of mice from one facility to another), the need to formally approve new experiments and add investigators to these protocols, the demanding nature of behavioral science itself, and the high local demand for very quick tests, meant that we must often decline requests to conduct short-term experiments. Various local core facilities may be better equipped to handle this sort of work.

The NBL's strength lies in our ability to work with neurobiologists to fully explore, characterize and test a wide range of genetically-, surgically- or pharmacologically-derived mouse models. We look for opportunities to partner with you on projects that may require significant input on how best to investigate, test and use models that can advance your research. Typically this comes about in one of two ways:

  • We welcome the opportunity to work with you on grant applications that have a significant component of mouse neurobehavioral research. We will work with you on the application itself, advising on appropriate neurobehavioral tests and procedures, optimum equipment and procedures, and data analysis and interpretation. In the event of a successful application we will work closely with your lab to develop and complete the proposed research. 

  • Pilot projects are often desirable prior to grant applications. We are happy to discuss these projects with you directly and to look for ways to jointly develop the preliminary data that may lead to more extensive studies. We are happy to cost share on pilot projects of mutual interest.

If you are interested in working with us, as a first step please This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with a summary of your proposed project.

Please do not make plans to breed or transfer mice to the NBL prior to agreeing to work with us on a project.