ArticleNature methods2017
Virtual reality for freely moving animals.
Article in Nature methods, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 260 citations in OpenAlex.
- The study of social animal migrations: a synthesis of the past and guidelines for future research.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Social Preference Tests in Zebrafish: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2020Pooled it
- Coevolutionary attack and avoidance strategies in predators and grouping prey.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2026Review
- Closed-loop real-virtual interactions validate 3D model of social coordination in fish.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Threshold-Free Neural Network Models for Swim Bout Detection of Larval Zebrafish.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Visual uncertainty and task demands shape active sensing strategies in mice.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Visual uncertainty and task demands shape active sensing strategies in mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- MARINER: a surround visual stimulator for vision research in aquatic animals.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Swimming with robots: investigating fish locomotion, sensing, and schooling behavior with robotic swimmers.Nature communications · 2026Review
- An open-source closed-loop Virtual Reality system to investigate social interactions and collective behavior in fish.PloS one · 2026Article
- Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience.Trends in neurosciences · 2025Review
- A framework for a low-cost system of automated gate control in assays of spatial cognition in fishes.Journal of fish biology · 2025Article
- Spectral preferences of mosquitos are altered by odors.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- The challenge of measuring mosquito flight performance: going beyond sterile insect technique and into transgenic and gene drive-based approaches.Open biology · 2025Review
- Ultrabright and ultrafast afterglow imaging in vivo via nanoparticles made of trianthracene derivatives.Nature biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- The fruit fly,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Article
- Moculus: an immersive virtual reality system for mice incorporating stereo vision.Nature methods · 2025Article
- How can ethology inform the neuroscience of fear, aggression and dominance?Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Information consumption and firm size.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Standard animal behavior paradigms incompletely mimic nature and thus limit our understanding of behavior and brain function. Virtual reality (VR) can help, but it poses challenges. Typical VR systems require movement restrictions but disrupt sensorimotor experience, causing neuronal and behavioral alterations. We report the development of FreemoVR, a VR system for freely moving animals. We validate immersive VR for mice, flies, and zebrafish. FreemoVR allows instant, disruption-free environmental reconfigurations and interactions between real organisms and computer-controlled agents. Using the FreemoVR platform, we established a height-aversion assay in mice and studied visuomotor effects in Drosophila and zebrafish. Furthermore, by photorealistically mimicking zebrafish we discovered that effective social influence depends on a prospective leader balancing its internally preferred directional choice with social interaction. FreemoVR technology facilitates detailed investigations into neural function and behavior through the precise manipulation of sensorimotor feedback loops in unrestrained animals.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.