Advanced Training Workshop in the use of homecage technologies to monitor rodents
Summary – Pia Kahnau, Francesca Marsili, Daniela Petrinec, Davor Virag
At the Advanced Training School held in Porto, we all came from a variety of backgrounds, working in different fields, with different species, but had in common the desire to learn more about animal behaviour and the use of home cage systems in analysing it. We believe this was the best part – as we’ve learned, in complex topics such as these, there is no one true answer, so we revelled in the opportunity to learn about the state of the art from experts in the field, and engage in discussions with enthusiastic people of many unique perspectives. While we learned about various techniques, from conventional to home cage behavioural testing and monitoring, used in paradigms of motor, psychiatric, and neurological disability, we were always mindful of the animal and the entirety of its behaviour when thinking how to measure and contextualise a specific finding. As behaviour, with all of its intricacies, is still largely a subject of investigation and discussion, the Porto Advanced Training School served as an amazing opportunity to build a network of wonderful people whom we can call on to search for answers to these questions together. The Training School was attended by 24 trainees from 13 European countries including 10 ITC countries.
The manual for the workshop can be found below: