Tracking individual mice inside their home cage and in groups is challenging. Although a variety of methods exist, all of them have limitations, including pain or discomfort to the animals or just unreliability. A study in Neuropsychopharmacology shows the use of 3D-printed tags placed on mice tails that can be used to easily track the animals continuously in social environments of 20 mice for 7 days without affecting the mice's behavior. This mouse-wearable accessory provides reliable re-identification of the individual when the system loses track of the individual. Contrary to other methods, this system seems to not affect the animals while still being reliable in large open fields. The method is also affordable, and it is easy to retrieve data automatically. These results open the avenue for larger social dynamic studies in lab mice on a larger temporal scale without extensive resources.
Original reference: Coulombe, V. et al. Neuropsychopharmacology https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02126-y (2025)
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