Assessing Healthspan and Lifespan Measures in Aging Mice: Optimization of Testing Protocols, Replicability, and Rater Reliability
Stacey J. Sukoff Rizzo
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorLaura C. Anderson
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorTorrian L. Green
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorTracy McGarr
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorGaylynn Wells
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorShawn S. Winter
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorStacey J. Sukoff Rizzo
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorLaura C. Anderson
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorTorrian L. Green
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorTracy McGarr
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorGaylynn Wells
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorShawn S. Winter
Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility, Center for Biometric Analysis, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The relationship between chronological age (lifespan) and biological age (healthspan) varies amongst individuals. Understanding the normal trajectory and characteristic traits of aging mice throughout their lifespan is important for selecting the most reliable and reproducible measures to test hypotheses. The protocols herein describe assays used for aging studies at The Jackson Laboratory's Mouse Neurobehavioral Phenotyping Facility and include assessments of frailty, cognition, and sensory (hearing, vision, olfaction), motor, and fine motor function that can be used for assessing phenotypes in aged mice across their lifespan as well as provide guidance for setting up and validating these behavioral measures. Researchers aiming to study aging phenotypes require access to aged mice as a reference when initiating these types of studies in order to observe normal aging characteristics that cannot be observed in young adult mouse populations. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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