ArticlePloS one2020
Manual dexterity of mice during food-handling involves the thumb and a set of fast basic movements.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dexterous single sniffs for ethological active olfaction.Science advances · 2026Article
- Multi-area activity in mouse motor cortex associated with one- and two-handed oromanual dexterity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Multidimensional Framework for Behavioral Persistence: Dissociable Dimensions of Effort, Endurance, and Sequence Stability in Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Medullary and C3-C4 propriospinal pathways underlying mammalian forelimb movement control.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Proximal phalanges of digit 1 have different identities in the forelimbs and hindlimbs of the mouse.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Evolution of thumbnails across Rodentia.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Hand-Jaw Coordination as Mice Handle Food Is Organized around Intrinsic Structure-Function Relationships.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Recording Forelimb Muscle Activity in Head-Fixed Mice with Chronically Implanted EMG Electrodes.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2024Article
- Non-consummatory behavior signals predict aversion-resistant alcohol drinking in head-fixed mice.Neuropharmacology · 2024Article
- Non-Consummatory Behavior Signals Predict Aversion-Resistant Alcohol Drinking in Head-Fixed Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Bridging mouse and human anatomies; a knowledge-based approach to comparative anatomy for disease model phenotyping.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2023Review
- Manipulation-specific cortical activity as mice handle food.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Refinements to rodent head fixation and fluid/food control for neuroscience.Journal of neuroscience methods · 2022Review
- The neural mechanisms of manual dexterity.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2021Review
- Circuit organization of the excitatory sensorimotor loop through hand/forelimb S1 and M1.eLife · 2021Article
- A Validation of Supervised Deep Learning for Gait Analysis in the Cat.Frontiers in neuroinformatics · 2021Article
- Training in a cooperative bimanual skilled reaching task, the popcorn retrieval task, improves unimanual function after motor cortical infarcts in rats.Behavioural brain research · 2021Article
- A New Look at Infant Problem-Solving: Using DeepLabCut to Investigate Exploratory Problem-Solving Approaches.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Towards Cell and Subtype Resolved Functional Organization: Mouse as a Model for the Cortical Control of Movement.Neuroscience · 2020Review
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3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The small first digit (D1) of the mouse's hand resembles a volar pad, but its thumb-like anatomy suggests ethological importance for manipulating small objects. To explore this possibility, we recorded high-speed close-up video of mice eating seeds and other food items. Analyses of ethograms and automated tracking with DeepLabCut revealed multiple distinct microstructural features of food-handling. First, we found that mice indeed made extensive use of D1 for dexterous manipulations. In particular, mice used D1 to hold food with either of two grip types: a pincer-type grasp, or a "thumb-hold" grip, pressing with D1 from the side. Thumb-holding was preferentially used for handling smaller items, with the smallest items held between the two D1s alone. Second, we observed that mice cycled rapidly between two postural modes while feeding, with the hands positioned either at the mouth (oromanual phase) or resting below (holding phase). Third, we identified two highly stereotyped D1-related movements during feeding, including an extraordinarily fast (~20 ms) "regrip" maneuver, and a fast (~100 ms) "sniff" maneuver. Lastly, in addition to these characteristic simpler movements and postures, we also observed highly complex movements, including rapid D1-assisted rotations of food items and dexterous simultaneous double-gripping of two food fragments. Manipulation behaviors were generally conserved for different food types, and for head-fixed mice. Wild squirrels displayed a similar repertoire of D1-related movements. Our results define, for the mouse, a set of kinematic building-blocks of manual dexterity, and reveal an outsized role for D1 in these actions.
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