What's Wrong With My Mouse? Behavioral Phenotyping of Transgenic and Knockout Mice

Dr. Jacqueline N. Crawley, author of the First and Second Editions of What's Wrong with My Mouse? Behavioral Phenotyping of Transgenic and Knockout Mice,continues to field calls and e-mails from molecular geneticists who ask: how do I run behavioral assays to find out what's wrong with my mouse? Turn to What's Wrong with My Mouse? to discover the wealth of mouse behavioral tasks and to get the guidance you need to select the best methods and necessary controls. Chapters are organized by behavioral domain, including measurements of general health, motor functions, sensory abilities, learning and memory, feeding and drinking, reproductive, social, emotional, and reward behaviors in mutant mice. Throughout the chapters, new behavioral tasks and new research discoveries have been added, bringing the Second Edition up to date with the latest science. In addition, the Second Edition includes two new chapters: "Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration" discusses mouse behavioral tasks relevant to neurodevelopmental diseases, such as mental retardation and autism, and to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Huntingtons, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. "Putting It All Together" recommends strategies for optimizing a battery of behavioral phenotyping tests to address your specific hypotheses about gene functions. The final chapter, "The Next Generation," examines new and emerging technologies. Throughout the book, the use of behavioral testing equipment is illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and representative data. Examples of behavioral tasks successfully applied to transgenic and knockout mouse models are provided, as well as references to the primary literature and step-by-step methods protocols. These features, along with a comprehensive index, listings of database and vendor websites, and an extensive list of references, make this book a valuable and practical resource for students and researchers.

Jacqueline N. Crawley, PhD, is Chief of the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health; Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology at Georgetown University. Dr. Crawley has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and 60 review articles. Her research has included rodent behavioral analyses of noradrenergic pathways; benzodiazepine receptor ligands; neuropeptide transmitters, including galanin and cholecystokinin; mouse genetic models of autism; and behavioral phenotyping of more than 30 lines of transgenic and knockout mice. Recent awards include the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society Myers Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), the Fleur Strand Summer Neuropeptide Conference Award (2005), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Preceptor Award (2004), and the National Institute of Mental Health Director's Award (2002).

What's Wrong With My Mouse?: Behavioral Phenotyping of Transgenic and Knockout Mice, Second Edition has been written in Dr. Crawley's private capacity, outside of her professional position at the National Institutes of Health. The views expressed in this book do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or of the United States government.