Abstract

Background and Objectives: Non-primate Vertebrates are widely used to study vestibular system since their vestibular reflex is very similar to the one in humans. Recording vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in laboratory animals such as mice is technically very sophisticated. Thus, three-dimensional (3D) recording method for VOR has been newly developed in which a 200 μm-sized marker is attached to the eyeball of a C57BL/6 mouse and a certain ultra-violet (UV) ray is illuminated to it.
Materials and Methods: A bolt for head fixation was permanently implanted on the skull under inhalation anesthesia. The range of given rotational stimulation was ±100°/sec with the frequency of 0.1 Hz and 0.2 Hz. The analysis was performed with the data gathered from at least three cycles, and the maximum slow-phase velocity of the eyeball was averaged from the data to calculate gain, phase and symmetry.
Results: In eyeball rotation data recorded with a video-nystagmus-recording machine with UV ray illumination, an error occurred by eyeball rotation were ignorable since its diameter was very small (error rate <1 pixel). Preoperatively undergiven. 0.1 Hz stimulation, average maximum slow-phase velocity was 14.95±4.80°/sec in the clockwise rotation and 14.94±4.01°/sec to the opposite.
Conclusion: The nystagmus was able to be quantified in C57BL/6 mice by using 3D recording method for VOR with 385 nm UV ray illumination.