That is, the genetic correlations across tasks were low—strains that were very intoxicated on one measure were not necessarily very intoxicated on another. The tasks were diverse, and included activity stimulation and wobbling gait. Another test was the rotarod, where mice are placed on a horizontally-oriented dowel which is then rotated at increasing speeds until they fall, and a balance beam, where intoxicated mice show a characteristic foot slip when intoxicated. All such tasks involve many neural systems, including but not limited to vision, proprioceptive feedback, gait patterning, and balance, but also motivation and learning. The pattern of results suggested that these assays do not target a single, monolithic functional domain (e.g., “balance” or “ataxia”).
