Touchscreen system for visual cognition in rats.

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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.