Touchscreen system for visual cognition in rats.

对行为神经学家来说，理解在信息的快速整合和存储过程中发生在大脑中的电生理变化是一个关键的挑战。考虑到理解这些变化通常需要侵入性技术，啮齿动物的神经系统通常被用作此类实验的模型。本申请所需的设备是高度专门化的，可以对各种任务中的啮齿动物进行行为评估。关键的是，该设备将能够同时记录啮齿动物在执行任务时不同脑区的神经活动。使用这种设备进行的实验将提供对大脑-行为关系的直接洞察。所要求的设备包括四个带有触摸屏的全自动、计算机控制的测试室。触摸屏使各种行为模式能够被实施，这些模式密切模仿人类神经心理学中使用的那些模式。老鼠根据任务的具体情况对屏幕上显示的视觉提示做出反应，以获得食物奖励。在执行任务的过程中，老鼠将被长期植入电极，当动物参与任务的不同部分时，神经活动将从离散的大脑区域直接记录下来。虽然这种设备在神经科学中有广泛的应用，但它最初将用于实验，旨在解决暴露在急性应激下改变对学习和记忆至关重要的大脑回路活动模式的机制。预计这些实验将对理解急性应激等经验因素如何影响包括人类在内的一系列哺乳动物物种的学习和记忆等认知过程具有重要意义。

Understanding the electrophysiological changes that occur in the brain during the rapid integration and storage of information is a critical challenge for behavioral neuroscientists. Given the invasive techniques typically needed to understand these changes, the rodent nervous system is commonly used as a model for such experiments. The equipment requested in the present application is highly specialized to allow for behavioral assessments of rodents on a large variety of tasks. Critically, the equipment will enable simultaneous recording of neural activity from discrete brain areas of rodents while they are engaged in the tasks. Experiments performed with this equipment will provide direct insights into brain-behavior relationships. The equipment requested includes four fully automated, computer controlled testing chambers with touchscreens. The touchscreens enable a variety of behavioral paradigms closely modeled after those used in human neuropsychology to be administered. Rats respond to visual cues presented on a screen according to the specifics of the task to receive food reward. During performance of the tasks, rats will be chronically implanted with electrodes and neural activity will be directly recorded from discrete brain areas while the animal is engaged in different parts of the tasks. While this equipment has a broad range of applications in neuroscience, it will initially be used in experiments designed to address the mechanisms through which the exposure to acute stress alters patterns of activity in the brain circuits critical for learning and memory. It is expected that these experiments will have significant implications for understanding how experiential factors, such as acute stress, affect cognitive processes such as learning and memory in a range of mammalian species including humans.