{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"omics_type":["Unknown"],"submitter":["Miyagishima KJ"],"funding":["Intramural NIH HHS"],"pubmed_abstract":["The optomotor reflex (OMR) provides a behavioral assessment of an animal's contrast sensitivity and visual acuity. Mice or rats are typically placed directly onto a small circular platform by hand; however, handling animals like this can stimulate stress and anxiety, which introduce confounding factors when interpreting data. It has been shown that non-aversive handling methods, such as picking up mice or rats in a familiar tunnel/tube, can reduce anxiety. This is of particular interest in studies where animals display heightened stress, overactivity, or motor dysfunction, resulting in an inability to stay on the platform. A team led by Drs. Kiyoharu J. Miyagishima and Francisco M. Nadal-Nicolás have redesigned the conventional OMR platform to provide semi-closed containment. This makes it possible for the first time to record the optomotor reflex in the 13-lined ground squirrel, which is one of the few mammals that can see color. It has a visual streak with a high density of cones similar to the human macula providing an attractive model for studying effects on the cone visual system."],"journal":["Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12403201"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"pubmed_title":["Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels."],"pmcid":["PMC12403201"],"funding_grant_id":["Z99 EY999999"],"pubmed_authors":["Ball JM","Benkner B","Li W","Nadal-Nicolas FM","Miyagishima KJ","Munch T"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels.","description":"The optomotor reflex (OMR) provides a behavioral assessment of an animal's contrast sensitivity and visual acuity. Mice or rats are typically placed directly onto a small circular platform by hand; however, handling animals like this can stimulate stress and anxiety, which introduce confounding factors when interpreting data. It has been shown that non-aversive handling methods, such as picking up mice or rats in a familiar tunnel/tube, can reduce anxiety. This is of particular interest in studies where animals display heightened stress, overactivity, or motor dysfunction, resulting in an inability to stay on the platform. A team led by Drs. Kiyoharu J. Miyagishima and Francisco M. Nadal-Nicolás have redesigned the conventional OMR platform to provide semi-closed containment. This makes it possible for the first time to record the optomotor reflex in the 13-lined ground squirrel, which is one of the few mammals that can see color. It has a visual streak with a high density of cones similar to the human macula providing an attractive model for studying effects on the cone visual system.","dates":{"release":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2025 Jul","modification":"2026-04-08T15:50:29.633Z","creation":"2026-04-08T05:37:37.083Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC12403201","cross_references":{"pubmed":["40788863"],"doi":["10.3791/68335"]}}