Este proyecto fue apoyado por el NIH subvenciones DA19112 (DGW) y DA026994 (OCM). Ilustración fue proporcionada por Katherine Louderback. Los experimentos se realizaron en el Laboratorio de Vanderbilt Neurocomportamentales murino.

1. Escribir un programa para ejecutar sesiones operante prueba utilizando una variedad de estímulos visuales y auditivos como un refuerzo <ol><li> Por relación fija (FR) sesiones: hacer sesiones de una hora de duración con la luz y el ventilador de la casa encendida durante la sesión. Para las sesiones de relación progresiva, hacer sesiones de dos horas de duración. Tiene dos palancas de prorrogarse durante la duración de la sesión y contrapeso que la palanca se denomina &quot;activa&quot; frente a &quot;inactivo&quot; a través de los animales (asignación de palanca para cada animal, nunca cambia). </li><li> El código del programa, de tal manera que cada refuerzo es variado de acuerdo a los siguientes parámetros: <ul><li> cada refuerzo es uno de los siguientes períodos de tiempo elegido al azar: 2, 4, 6 u 8 segundos. </li><li> cada refuerzo tiene una de las tasas de estímulo siguientes lámpara de flash elegido al azar: 0,625, 1,25, 2,5, o 5 Hz, cada uno con un 50% del ciclo. </li><li> cada lámpara flash estímulo al azar en la izquierda o la derecha de la cámara. </li><li> proporcionar un estímulo auditivo durante la duración del refuerzo, en nuestro laboratorio, activar una bomba de infusión que proporciona un sonido de aproximadamente 3 dB por encima del ruido de fondo en la cámara. </li></ul></li><li> El código del programa para mostrar los siguientes valores en tiempo real: 1. Número de prensas de palanca activa, 2. Número de prensas de palanca inactiva, 3. Número de refuerzos, 4. Tiempo (en incrementos de 0,1 segundos). </li></ol> 2. Tratar a los animales (3 procedimiento de día) <ol><li> Después de la aclimatación de las instalaciones para animales, comience a manejar los animales. Esto se habitúan a los animales a ser recogidos y transportados. </li><li> Comience por colocar las manos enguantadas en la jaula y dejar que repose durante 90 segundos. Si todos los ratones no ha investigado las manos en ese momento, mueva suavemente las manos hacia los ratones y esperar a que cada uno de oler y / o póngase en contacto con las manos antes de proceder. </li><li> Recoja cuidadosamente cada ratón una a una por la base de la cola y lo coloca en la mano, rápidamente levantando y traerlo de vuelta hacia abajo para permitir el ratón para alejarse de su mano dentro de la jaula. </li><li> Repita para cada momento del ratón 5.10, dependiendo del comportamiento del ratón. La última vez hecho esto, mantenga el alto el ratón (con ella de pie en la mano) por un período de tiempo, dependiendo del día. Día 1: 5 segundos, Día 2: 10 segundos, Día 3: 15 seg. Asegúrese de que cada ratón cumple este criterio para el día. El día 1, cambiar los guantes entre las jaulas. </li><li> A partir del día 2, golpe detrás del animal, mientras que el ratón está en su mano. También el día 2, comenzará un peso de los animales diariamente. Marca la cola de cada animal con un rotulador para indicar el número tema. </li><li> Si las inyecciones se dará durante el experimento, los ratones empiezan habituar a las inyecciones en el Día 2. Esto se debe hacer después de todos los ratones de la jaula han sido manipulados y se reunió con el criterio para el día. </li></ol> 3. Limpiar y probar el equipo <ol><li> Lave la bandeja inferior con agua caliente. </li><li> Limpiar las paredes y los pisos operante cámara con 30% de etanol. </li><li> Ejecutar un programa de prueba que se enciende la luz, Ventilador, y las luces de estímulo, se extiende a las palancas, y presiona la palanca de los registros. </li><li> Asegúrese de que todas las luces y los ventiladores funcionan correctamente y probar el programa para asegurarse de que todas las prensas de palanca se registran. </li><li> Palancas limpio con 30% de etanol. </li></ol> 4. Realizar la sesión operante (sesiones deben ser de 5-6 días / semana en el mismo momento del día) <ol><li> Pese cada ratón. </li><li> Cargar el programa en cada cámara y anotar el experimento de manera apropiada. La palanca de activos debe ser compensada entre los animales (es decir, la palanca de activos se asigna a la palanca a la izquierda de la mitad de los ratones, la palanca derecha se activa la otra mitad), pero el lado de la palanca activa no cambia una vez un ratón del ratón ha sido asignado. </li><li> Transporte de cada ratón a su Sala designada, cerca de la cámara, e iniciar la sesión. </li><li> Después de que termine la sesión, extraiga inmediatamente el ratón y volver a marcar la cola. </li><li> Cámaras limpias como se describe en la Sección 3. </li><li> Analizar los datos para el número de prensas de palanca activa e inactiva. Número de refuerzos y / o exactitud de palanca (prensas de palanca% activo) también pueden ser reportados. Si los ratones van a ser probados por el efecto de un tratamiento en el OSS, asegúrese de que todos los ratones de la prueba se han reunido los criterios de adquisición (por ejemplo,&gt; 20 prensas de palanca activa y&gt; 65% de prensas de palanca activa tres últimas sesiones de FR-1 ) antes de comenzar el tratamiento. </li><li> Después de la adquisición de la FR-1 de responder, el programa de reforzamiento se puede cambiar (por ejemplo, una mayor proporción fija, la proporción progresiva, la relación de azar, etc.) </li></ol> 5. Resultados representante Un ejemplo de adquisición de software libre por ratones macho C57Bl/6J se muestra en la Figura 1 (que se reproduce a partir de 23). Los ratones de control se sometieron a las mismas condiciones, salvo que presiona la palanca en cualquiera de las palancas no tenía consecuenciassecuencia. Otra cohorte de ratones se muestra en la Figura 2. En este experimento, un grupo de ratones recibió refuerzo OSS, mientras que otro grupo recibió el refuerzo de alimentos. Hemos encontrado que en las condiciones de acceso libre a la alimentación, tanto en tasa fija y progresiva respuesta son similares entre el OSS y responder por el 10% Garantizar (Figura 2, A y B). Esto permite la comparación efectiva de una manipulación en dos tipos diferentes de refuerzo (sensorial y comida) que evita confunde potenciales resultantes de estado de hambre o las diferencias en la tasa de respuesta. <img src="/files/ftp_upload/2292/2292fig1.jpg" alt="Figura 1" /> Figura 1:. Prensas de palanca por los ratones OSS y los controles de los ratones recibieron OSS variados estímulos visuales y auditivos después de cada activo empujar la palanca (FR-1 programa de reforzamiento), mientras que presiona la palanca inactiva no tuvo consecuencias. Los ratones de control se sometieron a las mismas condiciones, pero no hubo consecuencia de pulsar cualquiera de las palancas (palancas se denotan 1 y 2 y contrapeso son a través de los animales de la misma manera que las palancas activas e inactivas se ven contrarrestados por los ratones OSS). Palanca activa presionando por los ratones OSS se incrementó en relación con la palanca inactiva presionando (* p &lt;0,05, ** p &lt;0,01) y no reforzado presionar una palanca de control (n = 7, 8, $ p &lt;0,05, $ $ p &lt;0,01 ). Figura realizada a partir del 23. <img src="/files/ftp_upload/2292/2292fig2.jpg" alt="Figura 2" /> Figura 2:. Prensas de palanca por los ratones y los ratones OSS de responder por los alimentos A.) Los ratones respondieron en un horario FR-1 de refuerzo de estímulos OSS o refuerzo de alimentos (10% Ensure). Todos los ratones tenían acceso ad libidum a la alimentación de la duración de los experimentos. B) Después de FR-1 sesiones, los ratones fueron avanzadas en una proporción progresiva (PR) programa de reforzamiento de cinco días. Los datos representan los promedios de los valores de los días cuatro y cinco de cada animal. La relación final se informó a la derecha del eje y se refiere al número de respuestas necesarias para obtener el refuerzo correspondiente (es decir, 30 respuestas están obligados a obtener el reforzador 10 º después de ganar nueve refuerzos con anterioridad).

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Sensación operante que buscan es una alternativa útil a drogas por vía intravenosa la auto-administración cuando el ratón es el animal de elección. El hecho de que ni la cirugía ni el mantenimiento del catéter que se requiere es ventajosa, ya que éstas son importantes obstáculos técnicos en el ratón. OSS también es atractivo porque puede ser la medición de los aspectos de refuerzo diferencia de otros reforzadores naturales como los alimentos. Es útil señalar que las medidas d...

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		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
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		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
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<td>Drug self-administration test package for mouse: extra-wide chamber and retractable levers</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td><a href="http://www.med-associates.com/">Med Associates, Inc</a></td>
<td>MED-307W-CT-D1</td>
<td>Levers are ultra-sensitive (require ~2 grams force) and are mounted 2.2 cm above the floor. Yellow stimulus lamps are mounted 2 cm above each lever.</td>
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<td>Interface and software package</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td><a href="http://www.med-associates.com/">Med Associates, Inc</a></td>
<td>MED-SYST-16</td>
<td>This is the package for up to 16 chambers.</td>
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operant sensation seeking in the mouse

Operant methods are powerful behavioral tools for the study of motivated behavior. These 'self-administration' methods have been used extensively in drug addiction research due to their high construct validity. Operant studies provide researchers a tool for preclinical investigation of several aspects of the addiction process. For example, mechanisms of acute reinforcement (both drug and non-drug) can be tested using pharmacological or genetic tools to determine the ability of a molecular target to influence self-administration behavior1-6. Additionally, drug or food seeking behaviors can be studied in the absence of the primary reinforcer, and the ability of pharmacological compounds to disrupt this process is a preclinical model for discovery of molecular targets and compounds that may be useful for the treatment of addiction3,7-9. One problem with performing intravenous drug self-administration studies in the mouse is the technical difficulty of maintaining catheter patency. Attrition rates in these experiments are high and can reach 40% or higher10-15. Another general problem with drug self-administration is discerning which pharmacologically-induced effects of the reinforcer produce specific behaviors. For example, measurement of the reinforcing and neurological effects of psychostimulants can be confounded by their psychomotor effects. Operant methods using food reinforcement can avoid these pitfalls, although their utility in studying drug addiction is limited by the fact that some manipulations that alter drug self-administration have a minimal impact on food self-administration. For example, mesolimbic dopamine lesion or knockout of the D1 dopamine receptor reduce cocaine self-administration without having a significant impact on food self-administration 12,16. 
Sensory stimuli have been described for their ability to support operant responding as primary reinforcers (i.e. not conditioned reinforcers)17-22. Auditory and visual stimuli are self-administered by several species18,21,23, although surprisingly little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this reinforcement. The operant sensation seeking (OSS) model is a robust model for obtaining sensory self-administration in the mouse, allowing the study of neural mechanisms important in sensory reinforcement24. An additional advantage of OSS is the ability to screen mutant mice for differences in operant behavior that may be relevant to addiction. We have reported that dopamine D1 receptor knockout mice, previously shown to be deficient in psychostimulant self-administration, also fail to acquire OSS24. This is a unique finding in that these mice are capable of learning an operant task when food is used as a reinforcer. While operant studies using food reinforcement can be useful in the study of general motivated behavior and the mechanisms underlying food reinforcement, as mentioned above, these studies are limited in their application to studying molecular mechanisms of drug addiction. Thus, there may be similar neural substrates mediating sensory and psychostimulant reinforcement that are distinct from food reinforcement, which would make OSS a particularly attractive model for the study of drug addiction processes. The degree of overlap between other molecular targets of OSS and drug reinforcers is unclear, but is a topic that we are currently pursuing. While some aspects of addiction such as resistance to extinction may be observed with OSS, we have found that escalation 25 is not observed in this model24. Interestingly, escalation of intake and some other aspects of addiction are observed with self-administration of sucrose26. Thus, when non-drug operant procedures are desired to study addiction-related processes, food or sensory reinforcers can be chosen to best fit the particular question being asked. 
In conclusion, both food self-administration and OSS in the mouse have the advantage of not requiring an intravenous catheter, which allows a higher throughput means to study the effects of pharmacological or genetic manipulation of neural targets involved in motivation. While operant testing using food as a reinforcer is particularly useful in the study of the regulation of food intake, OSS is particularly apt for studying reinforcement mechanisms of sensory stimuli and may have broad applicability to novelty seeking and addiction.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Operant Sensation Seeking in the Mouse at JoVE.com

Operant Sensation Seeking in the Mouse

En este protocolo se describe un método de aprendizaje operante con estímulos sensoriales como un refuerzo en el ratón. Que no requiere formación previa o la restricción de alimentos, y que permite el estudio de la conducta motivada, sin el uso de un reforzador farmacológico o naturales, tales como los alimentos.

Sensación operante Buscando en el ratón

Operant methods are powerful behavioral tools for the study of motivated behavior.  These 'self-administration' methods have been used extensively in drug ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

12.9K vistas.  Vanderbilt University Medical Center. En este protocolo se describe un método de aprendizaje operante con estímulos sensoriales como un refuerzo en el ratón. Que no requiere formación previa o la restricción de alimentos, y que permite el estudio de la conducta motivada, sin el uso de un reforzador farmacológico o naturales, tales como los alimentos.

Video: Operant Sensation Seeking in the Mouse

A Procedure for Studying the Footshock-Induced Reinstatement of Cocaine Seeking in Laboratory Rats

The most insidious aspect of drug addiction is the high propensity for relapse. Animal models of relapse, known as reinstatement procedures, have been used extensively to study the neurobiology and phenomenology of relapse to drug use. Although procedural variations have emerged over the past several decades, the most conventional reinstatement procedures are based on the drug self-administration (SA) model. In this model, an animal is trained to perform an operant response to obtain drug. Subsequently, the behavior is extinguished by withholding response-contingent reinforcement. Reinstatement of drug seeking is then triggered by a discrete event, such as an injection of the training drug, re-exposure to drug-associated cues, or exposure to a stressor 1.
Reinstatement procedures were originally developed to study the ability of acute non-contingent exposure to the training drug to reinstate drug seeking in rats and monkeys 1, 2. Reinstatement procedures have since been modified to study the role of environmental stimuli, including drug-associated cues and exposure to various forms of stress, in relapse to drug seeking 1, 3, 4.
Over the past 15 years, a major focus of the reinstatement literature has been on the role of stress in drug relapse. One of the most commonly used forms of stress for studying this relationship is acute exposures to mild, intermittent, electric footshocks. The ability of footshock stress to induce reinstatement of drug seeking was originally demonstrated by Shaham and colleagues (1995) in rats with a history of intravenous heroin SA5. Subsequently, the effect was generalized to rats with histories of intravenous cocaine, methamphetamine, and nicotine SA, as well as oral ethanol SA 3, 6.
Although footshock-induced reinstatement of drug seeking can be achieved reliably and robustly, it is an effect that tends to be sensitive to certain parametrical variables. These include the arrangement of extinction and reinstatement test sessions, the intensity and duration of footshock stress, and the presence of drug-associated cues during extinction and testing for reinstatement. Here we present a protocol for footshock-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking that we have used with consistent success to study the relationship between stress and cocaine seeking.

Animal models of relapse, known as reinstatement procedures, have been used extensively to study the role of stress in relapse to drug seeking. Here, we report on a method for inducing the reinstatement of cocaine seeking in laboratory rats via acute exposures to mild, intermittent electric footshock.

Un procedimiento para el estudio de la reposición de estímulo eléctrico plantar inducido por la cocaína Buscando en ratas de laboratorio

The most insidious aspect of drug addiction is the high propensity for relapse.  Animal models of relapse, known as reinstatement procedures, have been ...

Investigación

Neurociencias

Multiple-mouse Neuroanatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The field of mouse phenotyping with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is rapidly growing, motivated by the need for improved tools for characterizing and evaluating mouse models of human disease. MRI is an excellent modality for investigating genetically altered animals. It is capable of whole brain coverage, can be used in vivo, and provides multiple contrast mechanisms for investigating different aspects of neuranatomy and physiology. The advent of high-field scanners along with the ability to scan multiple mice simultaneously allows for rapid phenotyping of novel mutations.
Effective mouse MRI studies require attention to many aspects of experiment design. In this article, we will describe general methods to acquire quality images for mouse phenotyping using a system that images mice concurrently in shielded transmit/receive radio frequency (RF) coils in a common magnet (Bock et al., 2003). We focus particularly on anatomical phenotyping, an important and accessible application that has shown a high potential for impact in many mouse models at our imaging centre. Before we can provide the detailed steps to acquire such images, there are important practical considerations for both in vivo brain imaging (Dazai et al., 2004) and ex vivo brain imaging (Spring et al., 2007) that should be noted. These are discussed below.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an increasingly popular tool for examining the phenotype of genetically altered mice. This article illustrates the methods necessary to achieve high-throughput phenotyping of genetically altered mice using multiple-mouse MRI.

Múltiples imágenes del ratón neuroanatómicos de Resonancia Magnética

The field of mouse phenotyping with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is rapidly growing, motivated by the need for improved tools for characterizing and ...

Detection of Neuritic Plaques in Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder leading to dementia. Neuritic plaque formation is one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. The central component of neuritic plaques is a small filamentous protein called amyloid &beta; protein (A&beta;)1, which is derived from sequential proteolytic cleavage of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) by &beta;-secretase and &gamma;-secretase. The amyloid hypothesis entails that A&gamma;-containing plaques as the underlying toxic mechanism in AD pathology2. The postmortem analysis of the presence of neuritic plaque confirms the diagnosis of AD. To further our understanding of A&gamma; neurobiology in AD pathogenesis, various mouse strains expressing AD-related mutations in the human APP genes were generated. Depending on the severity of the disease, these mice will develop neuritic plaques at different ages. These mice serve as invaluable tools for studying the pathogenesis and drug development that could affect the APP processing pathway and neuritic plaque formation. In this protocol, we employ an immunohistochemical method for specific detection of neuritic plaques in AD model mice. We will specifically discuss the preparation from extracting the half brain, paraformaldehyde fixation, cryosectioning, and two methods to detect neurotic plaques in AD transgenic mice: immunohistochemical detection using the ABC and DAB method and fluorescent detection using thiofalvin S staining method.

Detection of Neuritic Plaques in Alzheimer&#039;s Disease Mouse Model

One of the pathological characteristics of AD is the formation of Amyloid &#x03B2; protein positive neuritic plaques. In this protocol we describe two methods to detect neuritic plaques in transgenic AD model mice: immunohistochemical detection using the ABC and DAB method and fluorescent detection using thioflavin S staining method.

La detección de placas neuríticas en el modelo de la enfermedad de Alzheimer ratón

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder leading to dementia. Neuritic plaque formation is one of the pathological hallmarks ...

The Mouse Forced Swim Test

The forced swim test is a rodent behavioral test used for evaluation of antidepressant drugs, antidepressant efficacy of new compounds, and experimental manipulations that are aimed at rendering or preventing depressive-like states. Mice are placed in an inescapable transparent tank that is filled with water and their escape related mobility behavior is measured. The forced swim test is straightforward to conduct reliably and it requires minimal specialized equipment. Successful implementation of the forced swim test requires adherence to certain procedural details and minimization of unwarranted stress to the mice. In the protocol description and the accompanying video, we explain how to conduct the mouse version of this test with emphasis on potential pitfalls that may be detrimental to interpretation of results and how to avoid them. Additionally, we explain how the behaviors manifested in the test are assessed.

The forced swim test is validated as an experimental approach to assess potential antidepressant efficacy in rodents. Experimental animals are placed in a tank of water and escape-related mobility behavior is quantified. The common procedures for the mouse version of this test are described.

El ratón de prueba de natación forzada

The forced swim test is a rodent behavioral test used for evaluation of antidepressant drugs, antidepressant efficacy of new compounds, and experimental ...

Microdialysis of Ethanol During Operant Ethanol Self-administration and Ethanol Determination by Gas Chromatography

Operant self-administration methods are commonly used to study the behavioral and pharmacological effects of many drugs of abuse, including ethanol. However, ethanol is typically self-administered orally, rather than intravenously like many other drugs of abuse. The pharmacokinetics of orally administered drugs are more complex than intravenously administered drugs. Because understanding the relationship between the pharmacological and behavioral effects of ethanol requires knowledge of the time course of ethanol reaching the brain during and after drinking, we use in vivo microdialysis and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection to monitor brain dialysate ethanol concentrations over time. 
Combined microdialysis-behavioral experiments involve the use of several techniques. In this article, stereotaxic surgery, behavioral training and microdialysis, which can be adapted to test a multitude of self-administration and neurochemical centered hypotheses, are included only to illustrate how they relate to the subsequent phases of sample collection and dialysate ethanol analysis. Dialysate ethanol concentration analysis via gas chromatography with flame-ionization detection, which is specific to ethanol studies, is described in detail. Data produced by these methods reveal the pattern of ethanol reaching the brain during the self-administration procedure, and when paired with neurochemical analysis of the same dialysate samples, allows conclusions to be made regarding the pharmacological and behavioral effects of ethanol.

A method to determine the time course of ethanol concentration in the brains of rats during operant ethanol self-administration is described. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detection is used to quantify ethanol in the dialysate samples, because it has the sensitivity required for the small volumes that are generated.

Microdiálisis de etanol durante etanol operante determinación y la auto-administración de etanol por cromatografía de gases

Operant self-administration methods are commonly used to study the behavioral and pharmacological effects of many drugs of abuse, including ethanol.  ...

A Simple Way to Measure Alterations in Reward-seeking Behavior Using Drosophila melanogaster

We describe a protocol for measuring ethanol self-administration in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) as a proxy for changes in reward states. We demonstrate a simple way to tap into the fly reward system, modify experiences related to natural reward, and use voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure for changes in reward states. The approach serves as a relevant tool to study the neurons and genes that play a role in experience-mediated changes of internal state. The protocol is composed of two discrete parts: exposing the flies to rewarding and nonrewarding experiences, and assaying voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure of the motivation to obtain a drug reward. The two parts can be used independently to induce the modulation of experience as an initial step for further downstream assays or as an independent two-choice feeding assay, respectively. The protocol does not require a complicated setup and can therefore be applied in any laboratory with basic fly culture tools.

A Simple Way to Measure Alterations in Reward-seeking Behavior Using Drosophila melanogaster

We describe a protocol for inducing rewarding and nonrewarding experiences in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) using voluntary ethanol consumption as a measure for changes in reward states.

Una manera sencilla de medir alteraciones en el comportamiento de búsqueda de recompensa Uso<em&gt; Drosophila melanogaster</em

We describe a protocol for measuring ethanol self-administration in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) as a proxy for changes in reward states. We ...

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Reinforcement-guided decision making is the ability to choose between competing courses of action based on the relative value of the benefits and their consequences. This process is integral to the normal human behavior and has been shown to be disrupted by neurological and psychiatric disorders such as addiction, schizophrenia, and depression. Rodents have long been used to uncover the neurobiology of human cognition. To this end, several behavioral tasks have been developed; however, most are non-automated and are labor-intensive. The recent development of the open-source microcontroller has enabled researchers to automate operant-based tasks for assessing a variety of cognitive tasks, standardizing the stimulus presentation, improving the data recording and consequently, improving the research output. Here, we describe an automated delay-based reinforcement-guided decision-making task, using an operant T-maze controlled by custom-written software programs. Using these decision-making tasks, we show the changes in the local field potential activities in the anterior cingulate cortex of a rat whilst it performs a delay-based cost-and-benefit decision-making task.

A cost-benefit analysis is a weighing-scale approach that the brain performs during the course of decision making. Here, we propose a protocol to train rats on an operant-based decision-making paradigm where rats choose higher rewards at the expense of waiting for 15 s to receive them.

Operante protocolos para evaluar el análisis de costo-beneficio en decisiones reforzadas por roedores

Reinforcement-guided decision making is the ability to choose between competing courses of action based on the relative value of the benefits and their ...

Transpupillary Two-Photon In Vivo Imaging of the Mouse Retina

The retina transforms light signals from the environment into electrical signals that are propagated to the brain. Diseases of the retina are prevalent and cause visual impairment and blindness. Understanding how such diseases progress is critical to formulating new treatments. In vivo&#160;microscopy in animal models of disease is a powerful tool for understanding neurodegeneration and has led to important progress towards treatments of conditions ranging from Alzheimer&#39;s disease to stroke. Given that the retina is the only central nervous system structure inherently accessible by optical approaches, it naturally lends itself towards in vivo imaging. However, the native optics of the lens and cornea present some challenges for effective imaging access.
This protocol outlines methods for in vivo two-photon imaging of cellular cohorts and structures in the mouse retina at cellular resolution, applicable for both acute- and chronic-duration imaging experiments. It presents examples of retinal ganglion cell (RGC), amacrine cell, microglial, and vascular imaging using a suite of labeling techniques including adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, transgenic mice, and inorganic dyes. Importantly, these techniques extend to all cell types of the retina, and suggested methods for accessing other cellular populations of interest are described. Also detailed are example strategies for manual image postprocessing for display and quantification. These techniques are directly applicable to studies of retinal function in health and disease.

In vivo imaging is a powerful tool for the study of biology in health and disease. This protocol describes transpupillary imaging of the mouse retina with a standard two-photon microscope. It also demonstrates different in vivoimaging methods to fluorescently label multiple cellular cohorts of the retina.

Imágenes transpupilares de dos fotones in vivo de la retina del ratón

The retina transforms light signals from the environment into electrical signals that are propagated to the brain. Diseases of the retina are prevalent ...

In vivo Calcium Imaging in Mouse Inferior Olive

Inferior olive (IO), a nucleus in the ventral medulla, is the only source of climbing fibers that form one of the two input pathways entering the cerebellum. IO has long been proposed to be crucial for motor control and its activity is currently considered to be at the center of many hypotheses of both motor and cognitive functions of the cerebellum. While its physiology and function have been relatively well studied on single-cell level in vitro, presently there are no reports on the organization of the IO network activity in living animals. This is largely due to the extremely challenging anatomical location of the IO, making it difficult to subject to conventional fluorescent imaging methods, where an optic path must be created through the entire brain located dorsally to the region of interest.
Here we describe an alternative method for obtaining state-of-the-art -level calcium imaging data from the IO network. The method takes advantage of the extreme ventral location of the IO and involves a surgical procedure for inserting a gradient-refractive index (GRIN) lens through the neck viscera to come into contact with the ventral surface of the calcium sensor GCaMP6s-expressing IO in anesthetized mice. A representative calcium imaging recording is shown to demonstrate the feasibility to record IO neuron activity after the surgery. While this is a non-survival surgery and the recordings must be conducted under anesthesia, it avoids damage to life-critical brainstem nuclei and allows conducting large variety of experiments investigating spatiotemporal activity patterns and input integration in the IO. This procedure with modifications could be used for recordings in other, adjacent regions of the ventral brainstem.

In vivo Calcium Imaging in Mouse Inferior Olive

We present a protocol to expose the brainstem of adult mouse from the ventral side. By using a gradient-refractive index lens with a miniature microscope, calcium imaging can be used to examine the activity of inferior olive neural somata in vivo.

In vivo Imágenes de calcio en la aceituna inferior de ratón

Inferior olive (IO), a nucleus in the ventral medulla, is the only source of climbing fibers that form one of the two input pathways entering the ...

Using Optogenetics to Reverse Neuroplasticity and Inhibit Cocaine Seeking in Rats

This protocol demonstrates the steps needed to use optogenetic tools to reverse cocaine-induced plasticity at thalamo-amygdala circuits to reduce subsequent cocaine seeking behaviors in the rat. In our research, we had found that when rats self-administer intravenous cocaine paired with an audiovisual cue, synapses formed at inputs from the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (MGN) onto principal neurons of the lateral amygdala (LA) become stronger as the cue-cocaine association is learned. We hypothesized that reversal of the cocaine-induced plasticity at these synapses would reduce cue-motivated cocaine seeking behavior. In order to accomplish this type of neuromodulation in vivo, we wanted to induce synaptic long-term depression (LTD), which decreases the strength of MGN-LA synapses. To this end, we used optogenetics, which allows neuromodulation of brain circuits using light. The excitatory opsin oChiEF was expressed on presynaptic MGN terminals in the LA by infusing an AAV containing oChiEF into the MGN. Optical fibers were then implanted in the LA and 473 nm laser light was pulsed at a frequency of 1 Hz for 15 minutes to induce LTD and reverse cocaine induced plasticity. This manipulation produces a long-lasting reduction in the ability of cues associated with cocaine to induce drug seeking actions.

The methods described here outline a procedure used to optogenetically reverse cocaine-induced plasticity in a behaviorally-relevant circuit in rats. Sustained low-frequency optical stimulation of thalamo-amygdala synapses induces long-term depression (LTD). In vivo optogenetically-induced LTD in cocaine-experienced rats resulted in the subsequent attenuation of cue-motivated drug seeking.