T-Patterns in the study of movement disorders

An intrinsic feature of behaviour orbits around its temporal dimension consisting of patterns in time: investigations on behaviour necessarily deal with sequences often impossible to be perceived by the human eye [Eibl-Eibesfeldt I. Ethology: the biology of behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1970]. Thus, the study of behavioural sequencing in terms of higher order arrangements, how the sequences are structured and, importantly, their analysis in normal subjects and in subjects affected by specific movement/behavioural disorders may represent a stimulating but challenging task. By means of T-Pattern analysis (TPA), it is possible to study these hidden features of behaviour and, specifically, its sequential organization [Casarrubea M et al. J Neurosci Methods. 2015;239:34-46]. This is particularly interesting when such a multivariate technique is used to study animal models of neurological illnesses characterized by movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome or histamine-depleted conditions. Here we illustrate our recent findings, obtained by means of TPA, in different rodent models presenting movement disorders [Casarrubea M et al. Behav Brain Res 2019;362:28-35; Santangelo A et al. CNS Neurosci Ther 2018;24:703-711; Santangelo A et al. Neuropharmacology. 2017;113:533-542]. The results may represent a stimulating topic of discussion on what, from a translational perspective, each model may suggest in terms of human behavioural abnormalities. We propose TPA as a suitable tool to describe the architecture of a behaviour both in animal models of neurological disorders and human patients as well