Sub-second analysis of locomotor activity in Parkinsonian mice

The degeneration of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons disrupts the neural control of natural behavior, such as walking, posture, and gait in Parkinson’s disease. While some aspects of motor symptoms can be managed by dopamine replacement therapies, others respond poorly. Recent advancements in machine learning-based technologies offer opportunities to better understand the organizing principles of behavior modules at fine time scales and its dependence on dopaminergic modulation. In the present study, we applied the motion sequencing (MoSeq) platform to study the spontaneous locomotor activities of neurotoxin and genetic mouse models of Parkinsonism as the midbrain DA neurons progressively degenerate. We also evaluated the treatment efficacy of levodopa (L-DOPA) on behavioral modules at fine time scales. We revealed robust changes in the kinematics and usage of the behavioral modules that encode spontaneous locomotor activity. Further analysis demonstrates that fast behavioral modules with higher velocities were more vulnerable to loss of DA and preferentially affected at early stages of Parkinsonism. Last, L-DOPA effectively improved the velocity, but not the usage and transition probability, of behavioral modules in Parkinsonian animals. In conclusion, the hypokinetic phenotypes in Parkinsonism involve the decreased velocities of behavioral modules and their disrupted temporal organization during movement. Moreover, we showed that the therapeutic effect of L-DOPA is mainly mediated by its effect on the velocities of behavior modules at fine time scales. This work documents robust changes in the velocity, usage, and temporal organization of behavioral modules and their responsiveness to dopaminergic treatment under the Parkinsonian state.