Accurate and affordable assessment of physiological and pathological tremor in rodents using the accelerometer of a smartphone

Tremor is a common symptom for the most prevalent neurological disorders, including essential tremor, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease. Despite the devastating effects of tremor on life quality, available treatments are few and unspecific. Because of the need for specific and costly devices, tremor is rarely quantified by laboratories studying motor control without a genuine interest in trembling. We present a simple, reliable, and affordable method aimed at monitoring tremor in rodents, with an accuracy comparable to that of expensive, commercially available equipment. We took advantage of the accelerometer integrated in modern mobile phones working with operating systems capable of running downloaded apps. By fixing a smartphone to a cage suspended by rubber bands, we were able to detect faint vibrations of the cage. With a mouse in the cage, we showed that the acceleration signals on two horizontal axes were sufficient for the detection of physiological tremor and harmaline-induced tremor. We discuss the advantages and limitations of our method. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The majority of patients suffering from neurological disorders suffer from tremor that severely disrupts their life quality. Because of the high cost of specific scientific equipment, tremor is rarely quantified by laboratories working on motor behavior. For this reason, the potential anti-tremor effect of most compounds tested in animals remains unknown. We describe an affordable technique that will allow any laboratory to measure tremor accurately with a smartphone.