Presented:
Romanian Society of Physiology Meeting 2013, Iasi – Romania, May 9-11, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013

Abstract
Introduction Long-term multimodal neurophysiological recordings by implantable telemetry emerged during the last years as the gold standard for outcome measures of brain function in rodent studies. Nevertheless, due to their level of technical complexity, these telemetric systems remain expensive. In contrast, computer based video recording and processing became increasingly available. The aim of this study was to compare to which extent the wakefulness measured by simple video motion tracking compares with that derived by implantable telemetry.
Methods Telemetric recordings were obtained using a Dataquest ART Acquisition System with F40-EET transmitters implanted in male Wistar rats. Using a general-purpose infrared camera and custom-made software, we devised a system to continuously and simultaneously video-track the movement of the same implanted animals for several days.
Results The score obtained by video motion tracking was highly similar to the corresponding EMG signal in revealing wakefulness, at any time during the recordings.
Conclusion Our finding suggests that video motion tracking could very well be a less expensive alternative of wakefulness assessment with telemetric systems, although in order to differentiate between active or passive wakefulness theta wave analysis remains decisive.