演題詳細
Poster
マウスのラバーテイル課題の開発:視覚遮断の効果
A rubber tail task in mice: effect of visual occlusion
- P3-178
- 和田 真 / Makoto Wada:1,2 大良 宏樹 / Hiroki Ora:1,3 高野 弘二 / Kouji Takano:1 神作 憲司 / Kenji Kansaku:1,3
- 1:国リハ研・脳機能部・脳神経 / Sys Neurosci Sect, Dept of Rehab for Brain Func, Res Inst of NRCD, Tokorozawa, Japan 2:国リハ研・脳機能部・発達障害 / Dev Disorders Sect, Dept of Rehab for Brain Func, Res Inst of NRCD, Tokorozawa, Japan 3:電通大・脳科学 / Brain Sci Inspir Life Supp Res Cent, Univ of Electro-Communications
Feeling ownership of our limbs represents a fundamental aspect of self-consciousness, and in some circumstances, the feeling is extended out of our own body, as in the rubber hand illusion (RHI, Botvinick and Cohen, 1998). In the RHI, when a rubber hand and a participant's own hand are synchronously stroked, the participant feels that the rubber hand is his/her own hand. We have developed a rubber tail task in mice, aiming to evaluate their body ownership (Wada et al., 2014).
Mice were trained to remain in a small tube with their heads stationary (n = 5). The mice underwent daily tests comprising two conditions: 1) real tails and rubber tails were synchronously stroked using a brush; 2) the stimuli were always administered synchronously; however, in this study, the rubber tail was occluded by an opaque plastic plate to evaluate the importance of visual stimuli. After the tails were stroked for more than 1 min, an experimenter firmly grasped the rubber tail, and the responses of the mice were evaluated.
After synchronous stroking (condition 1), the mice responded as if their own tails were being touched when the rubber tails were grasped (0.44 ± 0.048). When the rubber tail was occluded by an opaque plastic plate (condition 2), the responses were significantly decreased (0.17 ± 0.048, P < 0.05, paired t-test).
This finding suggests that visuotactile integration is important for the RHI-like phenomenon in mice, and these observations are consistent with the RHI in humans. We infer that mice may experience body ownership of their tail. This phenomenon may be applicable for evaluation of body image in animals, and future research using this animal model may provide novel insights into developmental disabilities or psychiatric disorders.