Measurement of Larval Activity in the Drosophila Activity Monitor | Zendy

Aidan McParland | Zendy; Taylor Follansbee | Zendy; Geoffrey K. Ganter | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

Measurement of Larval Activity in the <em>Drosophila </em>Activity Monitor

Author(s) -

Aidan McParland,

Taylor Follansbee,

Geoffrey K. Ganter

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

journal of visualized experiments

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596

H-Index - 91

ISSN - 1940-087X

DOI - 10.3791/52684

Subject(s) - activity monitor , software , protocol (science) , drosophila (subgenus) , data logger , larva , computer science , neural activity , real time computing , computer hardware , biology , neuroscience , physical activity , ecology , medicine , operating system , pathology , biochemistry , alternative medicine , physical medicine and rehabilitation , gene

Drosophila larvae are used in many behavioral studies, yet a simple device for measuring basic parameters of larval activity has not been available. This protocol repurposes an instrument often used to measure adult activity, the TriKinetics Drosophila activity monitor (MB5 Multi-Beam Activity Monitor) to study larval activity. The instrument can monitor the movements of animals in 16 individual 8 cm glass assay tubes, using 17 infrared detection beams per tube. Logging software automatically saves data to a computer, recording parameters such as number of moves, times sensors were triggered, and animals' positions within the tubes. The data can then be analyzed to represent overall locomotion and/or position preference as well as other measurements. All data are easily accessible and compatible with basic graphing and data manipulation software. This protocol will discuss how to use the apparatus, how to operate the software and how to run a larval activity assay from start to finish.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research