Honors Theses

Locomotor Motif Deficits in a Down Syndrome Mouse Model

Advisor

Aaron Sathyanesan, Ph.D.

Department

Biology and Computer Science

Publication Date

4-22-2026

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

This research project explores potential locomotor motif deficits in Down Syndrome mouse models. Within current research conducted in the field of neuroscience of Down Syndrome, there is not much attention given to early behavioral development. The project aims to identify the effect of trisomy on early postnatal locomotor development using AI-enabled tools. We used high-speed video recordings of mouse pups belonging to an established Down syndrome model (Ts65Dn) at different developmental stages including P7-P10 . We recorded video of selected pups from below a transparent box to capture whole body locomotion and trained a DeepLabCut model using the data set generated. Following this, we utilized dlc2kinematics to acquire data on velocity, acceleration, and joint angle variability within each of the four paws. By following these mice across development, this project aimed to uncover the evolution of early locomotor motifs in typically developing pups and identify how trisomy alters these developmental trajectories.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes.

Keywords

Undergraduate research

This document is currently not available here.


Share

COinS
 
 
 

Links