Coding of facial expressions of pain in the laboratory mouse

Langford, D.J.; Bailey, A.L.; Chanda, M.L.; Clarke, S.E.; Drummond, T.E.; Echols, S.; ... ; Mogil, J.S. (2010)

Article / Letter to editor

Facial expression is widely used as a measure of pain in infants; whether nonhuman animals display such pain expressions has never been systematically assessed. We developed the mouse grimace scale (MGS), a standardized behavioral coding system with high accuracy and reliability; assays involving noxious stimuli of moderate duration are accompanied by facial expressions of pain. This measure of spontaneously emitted pain may provide insight into the subjective pain experience of mice.

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• All authors: Langford, D.J.; Bailey, A.L.; Chanda, M.L.; Clarke, S.E.; Drummond, T.E.; Echols, S.; Glick, S.; Ingrao, J.; Klassen-Ross, T.; LaCroix-Fralish, M.L.; Matsumiya, L.; Sorge, R.E.; Sotocinal, S.G.; Tabaka, J.M.; Wong, D.; Maagdenberg, A.M.J.M. van den; Ferrari, M.D.; Craig, K.D.; Mogil, J.S.
• Date: 2010-06-30
• Journal: Nature Methods
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 447
• DOI: doi:10.1038/nmeth.1455