Automated mouse homecage two-bottle choice test

A homecage-fitted apparatus for automated, photobeam-based detection of licks in a two-bottle choice task.
*Note: see v2 for updates

Meaghan Creed

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Description

We wanted to measure how much mice were drinking of two separate liquids. We developed a simple device that does just that! Low-cost and Arduino-based, it's great for high throughput testing.

For an updated version with new features, see: https://hackaday.io/project/160388-automated-mouse-homecage-two-bottle-choice-test-v2

Details

Several behavioral neuroscience paradigms require measurements of consumption of liquids in the homecage, i.e. sucrose preference task, oral self-administration. Here, we present a low-cost, two-sipper apparatus that mounts on the inside of a standard mouse cage. Interactions are detected using photointerrupters at the base of each sipper which are logged to an SD card using a standard Arduino. Sippers are constructed from 15 mL conical tubes which allows additional volumetric measurements, the rest of the holding apparatus is 3D printed, and the apparatus is constructed with parts from Arduino and Sparkfun.

Files

Hackaday_example lickometer data_180512.xlsx An example of the raw data written to SD card - shows interaction time and number over 7 days sheet - 4.92 MB - 05/13/2018 at 01:58		Download
Lickometer_Version_2sensors.ino Code to flash to Arduino for logging lick detection onto SD card. ino - 5.99 kB - 05/13/2018 at 01:08		Download
Exquisite Hillar-Bombul.stl 3D housing Standard Tesselated Geometry - 117.37 kB - 05/13/2018 at 01:03		Download

Components

1 × 3D printed device holder
2 × 10mL syringes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JJYDFHM
2 × JST Jumper 3 Wire Assembly https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9915
1 × Arduino power supply
1 × SD card

View all 11 components

Project Logs

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The Hackaday instructions are live!
Lex Kravitz • 05/13/2018 at 01:06 • 0 comments

This is a work in progress, please give us feedback and reach out if you need any help!

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Build Instructions

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1

Print the 3D part from STL file on project page
2

Prepare syringes

Pull plunger out of 2 syringes and put aside. Cut the top and bottom off the syringes with a razor blade (see photo). Epoxy a valve into the ejection end of each one and let dry fully.
3

Put together 2 photo-interrupters

Solder the PI into the Sparkfun breakout board, solder on a 1K resistor (the board says to use a 220Ohm resistor but we found 1K doesn't impair the function of the PI and consumes less power), and solder on the 3 pin JST connector. Be careful with the orientation of the connector, it's important! Plug the wire into this 3 pin jack.