Related Categories
Behavior > Operant Behavior > Bussey-Saksida Rodent Touch Screen Chambers > Chambers with Optogenetics
Behavior > Operant Behavior > Bussey-Saksida Rodent Touch Screen Chambers > Rat Touch Screen Chambers
Behavior > Integrated Behavior and Optogenetics

 

Details

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.

• Not just a touch screen, everything about the Bussey-Saksida chamber is different
• Not just another square sheet metal box, the Bussey-Saksida chamber has a unique trapezoidal wall shape to focus the animal’s attention and is made from machined parts that simply slot together. The chamber can also be configured to a modular square chamber with panels, levers, lights, and a range of other operator
• This equipment can run both autoshaping and a variety of operant tasks in the same chamber, with chamber configuration from autoshaping to one of the other proven paradigms in seconds Not just a touch screen, this is the ultimate modular chamber for high throughput. For example, do Visual Discrimination and Reversal in the morning and Five Choice Serial Reaction Time Task in the afternoon
• To enable such a high throughput, the chamber can be taken apart and reassembled in seconds for easy cleaning

• Get up and running quickly, with the Easy-Install Kit and buy proven tasks pre-programmed in ABET II Touch or get programming yourself quickly and easily with web-enabled online help from Campden Instruments and Lafayette Instrument Company
• Translational research: test rodents on tasks virtually identical to tasks used to test human populations
• The Bussey-Saksida Chambers and WhiskerServer ® originate from the department of Prof. Trevor Robbins, Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England

TOUCH SCREEN PARADIGMS

Visit the DOWNLOADS tab for videos of these tasks.

• Visual Discrimination and Reversal (VDR)
• Paired Associate Learning (PAL)
• Location Discrimination (LD)
• Visuospatial Conditional Learning (VCL)
• 5-choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5-CSRT)
• Trial-Unique Nonmatching-to-Location (TUNL) [rat only at this time]
• Autoshaping
• Extinction

VISUAL DISCRIMINATION AND REVERSAL TASK (VDR)
Age-related impairments in the R6/2 Huntington’s disease mouse model

Morton, Skillings, Bussey & Saksida (2006) Nature Methods

PAIRED ASSOCIATE LEARNING TASK (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 TASK (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.

INCLUDES

• Touch Screen
• Chamber Base with non-shock perforated floors
• Trapezodal Walls
• Feeder Reward Area
• Pellet Feeder
• Speaker
• House light
• White Noise / Tone Generator
• SAC

Features

• Add to the chamber, many options for different shaped walls and configurations, different floors, pellet or liquid reward, ambulatory I/R beams, I/R observation systems, and sound attenuation cubicles
• ABET II Touch software resides on the WhiskerServer Controller. One Controller can control up to 4 chambers
• Paradigms from Bussey's lab [Cognitive Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England] are available as pre-programmed ABET II Touch schedules
• Touch screen units are modified and optimized for use with rodents; all technology is research-validated and scientifically proven in Bussey's Lab
• Easy-Installation Kit keeps the wiring neat and tidy to get you up and running quickly and impress your regulatory inspector
• Beginner packages: Includes the starter chamber, trapezoidal walls, perforated floor, reward trough, touch screen and sound attenuating cubicle with slide out tray

Specifications

ANIMAL WORKING AREA

• 126mm width at Feeder
• 240mm width at Screen x 332 mm Deep (607.6 Sq. cm or 94.17 Sq. in)
• Working Area is 300mm in Height

SOUND ATTENUATION CUBICLE (SAC)

• Attenuation: Approx. 35dB
• Weight: 38 kg (empty)
• External Dimensions: 600mm Wide x 670mm Tall x 352mm Deep
• Internal Dimensions: 540mm Wide x 610mm Tall x 532mm Deep

Science

LECTURE POSTER

Lecture Poster put together for Prof. Tim Bussey and the Distinguished Lecture Series located at Seoul National University on September 21, 2011.

PROFILE OF PROF. TIM BUSSEY

Prof. Tim Bussey's profile at the University of Cambridge.

START RUNNING AND WATCH YOUR BRAIN GROW, SAY SCIENTISTS

Guardian article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits brain cell growth.

PHYSICAL EXERCISE HELPS BRAINS GROWN, MOUSE STUDY FINDS

BBC Article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits memory.

RUNNING COULD HELP JOG MEMORY AND HELP BRAIN GROW, SAYS CAMBRIDGE STUDY

BBC Article on recent research indicating why regular exercise benefits brain power. Based on a Cambridge University study.

PAIRWISE DISCRIMINATION FOLLOWED BY REVERSAL IN C57BL6/J USING MOUSE TOUCH SCREEN OPERANT BOXES

Abstract and graph presented at British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) 2010.

CUSTOM SYSTEM INTEGRATIONS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

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.

Downloads

Product Brochures and Fliers

Bussey-Saksida Touch Screen Chambers for Rodents
CamTouch Technical Standard

Product Manuals

Touch Screen System Cleaning Tips

Research Papers and Bibliographies

Rodent Touchscreen Bibliography
Neurosciences CEDD's Study of Effects of Compound X in a two stimulus discrimination and reversal learning task using novel touchscreen apparatus
Prof. Bussey's Profile
Start running and watch your brain grow, say scientists:
Physical exercise helps brains grow, mouse study finds:
Running could help jog memory and help brain grow, says Cambridge study:
Pairwise discrimination followed by reversal in C57BL6/J using mouse touchscreen operant boxes.
Whisker: A client–server high-performance multimedia research control system
New translational assays for preclinical modelling of cognition in schizophrenia: The touchscreen testing method for mice and rats
The Drug Deadlock
Bussey Rodent Touch Screen Biography List
Stress facilitates late reversal learning using a touchscreen-based visual discrimination procedure in male Long Evans rats
Post-training depletions of basolateral amygdala serotonin fail to disrupt discrimination, retention, or reversal learning
Distinct patterns of outcome valuation and amygdala-prefrontal cortex synaptic remodeling in adolescence and adulthood
Comparison of the validity of the use of the spontaneously hypertensive rat as a model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in males and females

Videos

Rat Touch Screen TUNL Video
Rat Touch Screen TUNL Video 2
Long Rat Touch Screen TUNL Video
Touchscreen-Based Cognitive Tasks Reveal Age-Related Impairment in a Primate Aging Model, the Grey Mouse Lemur (Microcebus murinus) - Video
Tree Shrew Close Up 3
Tree Shrew Monitoring 3

Accessories

Optional Accessories

ABET II Software for Touch Screens
Model 89505

Operant monitoring and control software for use with the Touch Screen modular hardware.

Peristaltic Pump for Liquid Reward for Rats
Model 80204-0.8

Single channel peristaltic pump featuring electronic control of the pump head including an electronic brake, to ensure accurate delivery of liquid reward down to a minimum of 7 microlitres. Volume is calibrateable when used with Whisker and ABET II software.

Two-choice Visual Discrimination Reversal for Rats
Model 89540-R

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.

Pellet Dispenser with 45mg Interchangeable Pellet Size Wheel and Optional Stand
Model 80209-45

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.

Visuomotor Conditional Learning - VMCL - for Rats
Model 89542-R

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.

Location Discrimination - LD - for Rats
Model 89546-R

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.

Paired-Associate Learning Task - PAL - for Rats
Model 89541-R

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.

5-choice Serial Reaction Time Task - 5CSRT - for Rats
Model 89543-R

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.

Trial-unique Nonmatching-to-Location Task - TUNL - for Rats
Model 89545-R

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.

Autoshaping for Rats
Model 89544-R

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.