Frequency analysis of whisker movement in mouse models of Parkinson's disease

Sammanfattning: As the life expectancy in the world increases, so does the prevalence of many age-related diseases. One such disease is Parkinson’s disease (PD) which is a neurological disease that affects patients through tremors, muscle stiffness and has an inhibitory effect on movement. In order to better understand neurological diseases in humans, it is beneficial to study their effects in animals. This thesis studies the effect of Parkinson’s disease on the whisker movement of mice using frequency-domain analysis. More specifically it aimed to answer the question: how are the frequencies of whisker movement in mice affected by Parkinson’s disease? The methods used to answer this question were continuous wavelet transform and wavelet coherence. It was found that the amount of whisker movement was significantly higher for PD mice than the healthy mice for frequencies <30 Hz. It could also be concluded that the effects of PD were symmetrical with regards to the left and right side whiskers within the frequency interval 7-30 Hz. Furthermore, it was found that whiskers on the same side of the face moved more coherently in the lesion group than the control group within all examined frequencies (<=30Hz). Further research in the field is required to determine the exact mechanisms underlying these differences.