For more information about the ever expanding amount of published research using our Touch Screen Systems, visit the DOWNLOADS and SCIENCE sections! For more 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 DOWNLOADS for videos of these tasks.
VISUAL DISCRIMINATION AND REVERSAL TASK (VDR)
Age-related impairments in the R6/2 Huntington's disease mouse model
Morton, A., Skillings, E., Bussey, T. et al. Measuring cognitive deficits in disabled mice using an automated interactive touchscreen system. Nat Methods 3, 767 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth1006-767
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, Stephanie M.a b; Mar, Adam C.a; Romberg, Carolaa; Bussey, Timothy J.a b; Saksida, Lisa M.a b A new touchscreen test of pattern separation: effect of hippocampal lesions, NeuroReport: June 17, 2009 - Volume 20 - Issue 9 - p 881-885
doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832c5eb2
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, Stephanie M.a b; Mar, Adam C.a; Romberg, Carolaa; Bussey, Timothy J.a b; Saksida, Lisa M.a b A new touchscreen test of pattern separation: effect of hippocampal lesions, NeuroReport: June 17, 2009 - Volume 20 - Issue 9 - p 881-885
doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832c5eb2
AUTOSHAPING
Data from C57/Bl6 mice on the Autoshaping task. A stimulus (white rectangle) is shown on either the left or right of the screen for (usually) 10 seconds. Over trials the animal learns that the CS+ predicts reward and makes increasingly more responses to the CS+, and fewer responses to the CS-.
Chamber shown with modular panel walls (Model 80614-3)
and corresponding reward trough (Model 80614-17).
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.
Details on the usage of Bussey-Saksida Touchscreen Chambers at Western University.
Improving cognitive testing on animals to treat human disorders: Technology developed at the University of Cambridge is transforming the way cognitive tests are performed on animals, leading to more directed experiments and ultimately aiding development of new drugs to treat schizophrenia and other neurocognitive disorders.
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.
A reliable pellet dispenser that features powerful motor drive with optical stops and optional pellet drop detection. Also available with an optional vertical or cantilever stand.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.