SELF-FUNDED MSC BY RESEARCH PROJECT: Advancing novel methods of assessing apathy-related behaviour in rodents

Apathy is a multidimensional syndrome consisting of behavioural, emotional and cognitive components that ultimately lead to a loss of motivation to engage with daily life. It is distinct from neuropsychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder but is a common syndrome seen in the ageing population and those with neurodegenerative disease. The ability to objectively quantify motivational and emotional state in rodents is crucial for advancing our understanding of psychiatric disorders such as apathy, and informing the development of novel therapeutics.

Conventional methods of studying apathy-related behaviour in rodents have been criticized in terms of how well these behaviours translate to that of humans. Often, rodents are food-restricted to induce willingness to work for food reward, with working requirements and environments that are not conducive to the rodent’s natural behaviour. In our laboratory, we have developed a novel foraging assay and home cage monitoring system designed to quantify behaviours relevant to apathy in an ethologically-relevant setting without the need to food restrict. We have shown that it is sensitive to age-related decline in motivated behaviour. The primary use of these tasks is to test novel therapeutics, but may also be used to enrich the home cage environment and improve rodent welfare.

In this project, we want to test whether these novel measures are sensitive to treatments known to manipulate motivational and emotional state. To achieve this, we will test the effects of pharmacological, environmental and psychosocial manipulations on behaviour both in the home cage and in the foraging assay. If successful, these data would support the use of home cage monitoring and foraging assay as a refined method of assessing apathy-related behaviour in rodents and address a significant gap in the translational pipeline.

Skills: This project will provide training in behavioural methods integrated with pharmacology. There will be an opportunity to develop computational methods using DeepLabCut to provide more in-depth analysis of homecage behaviours to help identify behavioural traits characteristic of apathy.