For more information about the ever expanding amount of published research using our Touch Screen Systems, visit the DOWNLOADS and SCIENCE sections! For recent news about the system, check out our news page!
Look to Lafayette Instrument Company for a "Science above Hardware" approach not found from any other supplier. The fully validated chambers described below are supported by ready to run ABET II Touch Paradigms including images, and a Whisker ® Server-based Controller for up to four test chambers. Plus, we provide the ability for the user to write their own scheduling, with web-based training. ABET II Touch software gives you ease of use, programming power, data analysis, versatility, and flexibility.
Visit the DOWNLOADS tab for videos of these tasks.
Visual Discrimination and Reversal (VDR)
Age-related impairments in the R6/2 Huntington’s disease mouse model
Morton, Skillings, Bussey & Saksida (2006) Nature Methods
Paired Associate Learning (PAL)
Intra-hippocampal infusions of MK-801 impair performance of the PAL task
But perhaps the most promising data from this task comes from our studies using donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor that is a commonly prescribed drug for AD in the UK. Donepezil enhanced performance on PAL in a dose-dependent manner. This result shows that PAL is able to detect cognitive enhancements, as well as impairments.
Location Discrimination (LD)
McTighe, Mar, Romberg, Bussey & Saksida (2009) NeuroReport
Neurogenesis knock-down impairs pattern separation in the Location Discrimination Task
Clelland, Choi, Romberg, Clemenson, Fragniere, Tyers, Jessberger, Saksida, Barker, Gage & Bussey (2009) Science
Dorsal hippocampal lesions impair pattern separation in the Location Discrimination Task
McTighe, Mar, Romberg, Bussey & Saksida (2009) NeuroReport
AUTOSHAPING
Impairments in Autoshaping (Pavlovian approach) following posttraining injections of the dopamine D1 antagonist SCH23390 or the NMDA antagonist AP-5.
Lecture Poster put together for Prof. Tim Bussey and the Distinguished Lecture Series located at Seoul National University on September 21, 2011.
Prof. Tim Bussey's profile at the University of Cambridge.
Guardian article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits brain cell growth.
BBC Article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits memory.
BBC Article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits brain power. Based on a Cambridge University study.
Abstract and graph presented at British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) 2010.
Featured application plans to use touch screens with microdialysis for sampling in the extracellular space. As shown in the image our design enables the lines to the animals to be as short as possible (the entry point to the chamber are at the side at the connection panel with the cooling fan) and the carousel can be rolled in and out on a shelf.
Operant monitoring and control software for use with the Touch Screen modular hardware.
The task involves learning that one of two shapes displayed simultaneously on the screen is correct. Touching the correct stimuli will be rewarded by delivery of food to the reward tray.
The most reliable pellet dispenser available. Features powerful motor drive with optical stops and optional pellet drop detection. Also available with an optional vertical or cantilever stand.
This is a habit or stimulus-response task in which the rodent learns a rule of the type If shape A presented, respond to the left location; if shape B is presented, respond to the right location.
The rodents are required to discriminate between two white squares on the screen. Responses to squares on one side of the screen will be rewarded, while responses on the other side of the screen will be punished with a time out period.
In humans this task has proved to be highly effective for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. In the PAL task for rodents, rats learn and remember which of three objects goes in which of three spatial locations.
This task requires the rodent to respond to a brief visual stimulus presented randomly in one of 5 locations. This task in rodents is sensitive to cortical manipulations, especially those involving prefrontal cortex, and is highly dependent on cholinergic transmission.
TUNL can be thought of as a version of delayed nonmatching-to-place, usually carried out in a conventional Skinner box with levers, in which the rats are presented with a sample location and, following a delay, are presented with two choice locations.
The task measures a Pavlovian response to the screen. This is a very rapidly administered test of simple classical conditioning that is dependent on a reward system centred on the ventral striatum.
The rate of flow for the Precision Liquid Feed Pump is been calibrated to give precise delivery of liquids at delivery rates suitable for rewarding mouse, rat, and primate.