| dc.contributor.author | Bolivar, Valerie Jean. | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-10-21T12:38:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 1996 | |
| dc.date.issued | 1996 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.other | AAINN16015 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10222/55156 | |
| dc.description | Neurological mutant mice provide an imperfectly explored and potentially important way to examine the effects of single gene mutations on motor behavior. This thesis research concerns the swimming behavior of one neurological mutant, the dysmyelinating jimpy mouse. The jimpy mutation (jp/Y) results from a single base change within the proteolipid protein gene and causes severe dysmyelination throughout the central nervous system while not affecting the peripheral nervous system. Examination of this mutant with a refined swimming test during the early postnatal period allowed the study of developmental effects of dysmyelination on a basic rhythmical motor behavior. Male jimpy mouse pups and their littermate controls were videotaped every second day from postnatal day 3 to 21. Detailed examinations of the movements made during swimming were accomplished by frame-by-frame analyses of the videotaped swimming sessions. Swimming behavior was examined in terms of general swimming style (limb usage), individual limb timing and interlimb coordination. These combined measures of swimming ability were used to provide a richer picture of swimming behavior in these mutants than previously provided. | en_US |
| dc.description | Although generalized swimming style measures did not show significant differences between jimpy and control groups, more fine-grained analyses did. Jimpy mice displayed stroke duration and velocity deficits in hindlimb movements. However, these deficits did not become apparent until postnatal days 11 and 13. When examining the coordination between pairs of limbs it became evident that jimpy mice were less able to maintain a coordinated swim involving both the forelimbs and hindlimbs. Coordination distinctions may reflect imperfect neural transmission in the jimpy mutant. Further, messages that have to travel the full length of a dysmyelinated spinal cord become temporally delayed, thereby resulting in a lack of normal swimming coordination. My data confirm the importance of detailed behavioral analyses to improve our understanding of how single gene mutations affect motor behavior. | en_US |
| dc.description | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1996. | en_US |
| dc.language | eng | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Dalhousie University | en_US |
| dc.publisher | | en_US |
| dc.subject | Biology, Neuroscience. | en_US |
| dc.subject | Psychology, Physiological. | en_US |
| dc.title | The development of movement patterns during swimming in the CNS myelin deficient jimpy mouse. | en_US |
| dc.type | text | en_US |
| dc.contributor.degree | Ph.D. | en_US |
