Measuring behavior across scales

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Gordon J Berman, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-02-23
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 Berman
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-018-0494-7
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: BMC Biology
• ISSN: 1741-7007
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was partially supported by NIMH 1R01MH115831-01.
• Keywords: physics.bio-ph; q-bio.NC; q-bio.QM
• Research Categories: Biology, General

Abstract

The need for high-throughput, precise, and meaningful methods for measuring behavior has been amplified by our recent successes in measuring and manipulating neural circuitry. The largest challenges associated with moving in this direction, however, are not technical but are instead conceptual: what numbers should one put on the movements an animal is performing (or not performing)? In this review, I will describe how theoretical and data analytical ideas are interfacing with recently-developed computational and experimental methodologies to answer these questions across a variety of contexts, length scales, and time scales. I will attempt to highlight commonalities between approaches and areas where further advances are necessary to place behavior on the same quantitative footing as other scientific fields.