论文标题：Behavior of mice aboard the International Space Station

期刊：Scientific Reports

作者：April E. Ronca, Eric L. Moyer, Yuli Talyansky, Moniece Lowe, Shreejit Padmanabhan, Sungshin Choi, Cynthia Gong, Samuel M. Cadena, Louis Stodieck, Ruth K. Globus

发表时间：2019/04/11

数字识别码： 10.1038/s41598-019-40789-y

原文链接：http://t.cn/E6FOU2W

微信链接：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/WrySv5fuKc6jCtmndOm1Ug

《科学报告》本周发表了一项动物行为研究Behavior of mice aboard the International Space Station，首次对在国际空间站（ISS）的NASA“啮齿动物栖息地”飞行的小鼠进行了详细分析。该动物研究有助于了解长时间暴露在太空失重环境下会对人类会产生何种影响。

图1 图源： Pixabay

在一次相对小鼠寿命而言时间较长（17-33天）的任务中，美国NASA埃姆斯研究中心的April Ronca和同事对ISS上飞行的20只雌性小鼠（16周和32周大）进行了视频拍摄，并在地面建立了匹配对照组。作者的目的在于进一步揭示动物是如何适应太空环境的。这些研究发现可能会影响动物实验的结果解读，而动物实验能帮助我们更好地认识人类对长期太空飞行的反应。

作者发现，飞行小鼠表现出各种种属型行为，包括摄食、给自己理毛、挤在一起以及社会互动。研究结束时，飞行小鼠的健康状况全部良好，且体重与地面对照组类似。飞行小鼠在整个实验期间都很活跃好动，它们积极探索周围环境，占领了整个栖息地。

图2：啮齿动物栖息地、相机视角和场地可见性。图源：Ronca等

在升空后的7-10天内，较年轻的飞行小鼠会出现绕栖息地四壁跑圈的独特行为，并很快演变成一种协调的集体运动。出现这种行为可能是因为小鼠将运动视作一种奖赏活动、一种应激反应，或是对内耳平衡系统的刺激，因为不运动时内耳平衡系统的部分结构无法在微重力下接收外部信号。不过作者认为需要开展进一步研究，才能更好理解这些行为背后的原因。

摘要：Interest in space habitation has grown dramatically with planning underway for the first human transit to Mars. Despite a robust history of domestic and international spaceflight research, understanding behavioral adaptation to the space environment for extended durations is scant. Here we report the first detailed behavioral analysis of mice flown in the NASA Rodent Habitat on the International Space Station (ISS). Following 4-day transit from Earth to ISS, video images were acquired on orbit from 16- and 32-week-old female mice. Spaceflown mice engaged in a full range of species-typical behaviors. Physical activity was greater in younger flight mice as compared to identically-housed ground controls, and followed the circadian cycle. Within 7–10 days after launch, younger (but not older), mice began to exhibit distinctive circling or ‘race-tracking’ behavior that evolved into coordinated group activity. Organized group circling behavior unique to spaceflight may represent stereotyped motor behavior, rewarding effects of physical exercise, or vestibular sensation produced via self-motion. Affording mice the opportunity to grab and run in the RH resembles physical activities that the crew participate in routinely. Our approach yields a useful analog for better understanding human responses to spaceflight, providing the opportunity to assess how physical movement influences responses to microgravity.

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期刊介绍：Scientific Reports (https://www.nature.com/srep/) is an online, open access journal from the publishers of Nature. We publish scientifically valid primary research from all areas of the natural and clinical sciences.

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（来源：科学网）