Agriscience student puts rodents' minds to the test
(Published Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:12:20 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Chris Schultz Gazette staff
WALWORTH-For the time being, he's called "Mr. Eight Seconds," because he once ran the 10-by-18 inch rodent maze in that amount of time.
The speedy white mouse is one of seven engaged in Brianna Kinney's experiment on whether a food additive and vitamin can improve the rodents' brainpower.
Brianna, 17, is a senior at Big Foot High School and a student in the school's agriscience program. She hopes to take her experiment to the FFA Agriscience Fair in Madison this June.
She also is a candidate for the prestigious $1,000 Herb Kohl Scholarship.
Brianna's test substances are ginkgo biloba, a natural extract touted for its positive effects on memory, and vitamin B-6. Both are known to increase oxygen flow to the brain and nerves, she said.
Brianna Kinney, a budding scientist and senior at Big Foot High School in Walworth, is conducting experiments with mice to determine if certain substances have a positive effect on memory.
Bill Olmsted/Gazette Staff
Since mid-November, Brianna has been sprinkling the additives on food given to two of her three test groups. Each week, she increases the amount by a half gram.
Since rodents aren't proficient in SATs or ACTs, Brianna tests her subjects in the maze.
Mr. Eight Seconds is one of three mice on the vitamin B-6 regimen, but on a recent test run he didn't live up to his name. He initially tried to exit the maze through the entrance, but a firm push from Brianna's finger indicated "out" was the other way.
After a leisurely two-minute stroll, Mr. Eight Seconds emerged from the exit. His reward was to be gently deposited into his "mouse house" with his partner.
Brianna doesn't reward her mice with snacks because their food intake has to be carefully measured with the "brain food" additives she puts in their daily meals.
Of the seven mice being studied, two are in the control group, two are taking ginkgo biloba and three are on B-6. One of the mice that started the experiment already has died from old age. Another that turned out to be female and now is mothering a litter of 10 in a separate cage.
A mouse is timed as it runs through a maze.
Bill Olmsted/Gazette Staff
Brianna tests the three groups at least once a week.
The control group tends to be the slowest, taking between 10 and 20 minutes to negotiate the maze, Brianna said. The ginkgo biloba-treated mice negotiate the same maze in 3 to 5 minutes.
The three mice on B-6, however, tend to complete the maze between Mr. Eight Seconds' top time and 3 minutes.
The test mice started out as actors, standing in for rats and other rodent nasties at a Halloween haunted barn in Delavan. Kinney picked up their contracts, so to speak, when their Halloween gig was up.
Brianna, the daughter of Steve and Linnea Kinney of Walworth, isn't afraid of the mice. She even consented to holding one close to her face for a photo.
But there's no emotional bond here, either. Other than Mr. Eight Seconds, who was named by a visitor, there are no Mickeys, Mightys, Toms or Jerrys. The mice are identified by ink marks on their tails.
Mr. Eight Seconds is also Mr. Four Tail Marks.
The end of Brianna's experiment will be unsentimental. The mice either will go to a pet store for resale, or they'll go to someone who owns a snake, she said.
That raises the question: Would B-6 vitamins have the same effect on a reptilian brain?
