This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant awarded to TAP (R15MH098246).

This procedure requires the use of animals; these procedures were approved by the Oberlin College Institutional Animal Care and Use committee and are in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals46.
1. 5CSRTT Apparatus
<ol>
	<li>A schematic of the 5CSRTT apparatus is provided in Figure 1.
	<ol>
		<li>The 5CSRTT apparatus consists of an operant conditioning chamber (30.5 x&#160;24.1 x&#160;29.2 cm) with 2 Plexiglas sidewalls, and a stainless steel grid floor.</li>
		<li>The aluminum front wall is rounded and contains five nose poke apertures (2.5 x&#160;2.2 x&#160;2.2 cm each); each aperture is equipped with a light emitting diode (LED) and an infrared sensor capable of detecting the insertion of the rats&#8217; nose.</li>
		<li>The aluminum back wall contains the food magazine; this is connected to a pellet dispenser and is equipped with an infrared sensor and a small incandescent light.</li>
		<li>An incandescent house light, capable of illuminating the entire chamber is affixed near the top of the back wall.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>House the 5CSRTT apparatus within a ventilated, sound attenuated operant conditioning chamber.</li>
	<li>Use a PC computer to control the operant chamber and to collect data.</li>
</ol>
2. Animal Housing and Preparation
<ol>
	<li>The procedure requires use of experimental animals; obtain approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) prior to commencing any experiments.</li>
	<li>House rats in pairs.
	<ol>
		<li>Maintain rats on a 14:10 light/dark cycle (lights on at 7:00 am) in a room with a constant temperature of 22&#160;&#177; 1&#160;&#176;C.</li>
		<li>Allow rats free access to water while in their home cages, but food restrict them.</li>
		<li>Food restrict rats to 85-90% of their free feeding weight two to five days prior to the start of magazine training and throughout 5CSRTT training and testing. Feed rats after daily training sessions and weigh them daily to ensure that they are gaining weight (~5 g/week).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
3. 5CSRTT Procedure
<ol>
	<li>General 5CSRTT Training Considerations
	<ol>
		<li>Train rats at a standard time of day a minimum of 5 days per week; training occurs over many stages (see Table 1) and takes several weeks.</li>
		<li>Train and test rats in the same operant chamber (see sections 3.2-3.5 below); small deviations in the rats&#8217; environment can affect their performance.</li>
		<li>At the end of each session clean all surfaces of the chamber with water containing the disinfectant sodium hypochlorite (or another disinfectant after consultation with your veterinarian).</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Magazine Training
	<ol>
		<li>Introduce sugar pellets (45 mg) to rats in their home cage prior to the first session. This minimizes neophobia and ensures rats will retrieve sugar pellets from the food magazine.</li>
		<li>Place rats in operant chamber (fans on) with aperture holes occluded. Allow rats to habituate to chamber for 5 min.</li>
		<li>Deliver sixty sugar pellets to magazine on either a fixed interval 20 sec (FI-20, day 1) schedule or a FI-30 schedule (day 2). 
		Note: The houselight can remain illuminated for the duration of the session and the magazine light should be illuminated upon pellet delivery and can remain illuminated until the pellet is retrieved.</li>
		<li>At the end of the session note whether sugar pellets are consumed; continue training for at least 2 days or until all of the pellets are consumed.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>5CSRTT Training
	<ol>
		<li>Figure 2 provides a schematic of a single 5CSRTT trial.</li>
		<li>Place each rat in an operant chamber with fans on. Allow rats to habituate to chamber for 5 min.</li>
		<li>At the end of the habituation period, illuminate the magazine light and deliver one sugar pellet. The first trial begins when this pellet is retrieved.</li>
		<li>Begin each trial with an inter trial interval (ITI) during which only the house light is illuminated. At the end of the ITI, pseudo randomly illuminate one of the aperture lights for the prescribed stimulus duration. Allow the rat time to respond to the stimulus presentation; the time the rat is allowed to respond is the limited hold (LH).</li>
		<li>Nose poke responses into the illuminated aperture result in the delivery of a sugar pellet to the magazine and illumination of the magazine light; such responses are considered correct responses. Extinguish the magazine light and initiate the next trial upon pellet retrieval.</li>
		<li>Nose poke responses into unlit apertures (incorrect responses) and failures to respond during the LH (omissions) result in a time out (TO). Extinguish the houselight during the TO. Signal the beginning of the next trial at the end of the TO by illuminating the houselight.</li>
		<li>Score nose poke responses during the ITI as premature responses; punish these responses with a TO period. Reinitiate the same trial after a TO caused by a premature response.</li>
		<li>End each session after 90 trials or 30 min, whichever comes first.</li>
		<li>For the first stage of training set the stimulus duration to 30 sec, the LH to 30 sec, the ITI to 2 sec and the TO to 2 sec. Adjust these parameters across training such that the stimulus duration is 1 sec and the LH, ITI and TO are all 5 sec (see Table 1). Move rats to the next training stage once they have reached the suggested training criteria. Test rats after they exhibit stable performance on the final stage. 
		Note: Sprague-Dawley rats typically reach criterion performance (~65 % accuracy, &#60; 20% omissions) within 4-8 weeks if trained 5 days per week. Different strains of rats however, have different abilities to perform the task. For example, Lister Hooded rats can attain high levels of accuracy (&#62; 80%) with fewer omissions (&#60; 20%) using a short stimulus duration (0.5 sec) (e.g., Bari et al., 2008; Mizra and Bright, 2001). It is recommended that researchers adjust stimulus parameters and criterion performance to reflect strain of rat (or mouse) used.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>5CSRTT Testing
	<ol>
		<li>Calculate baseline performance (% accuracy, % omissions, premature responses) by averaging performance on each measure across the last 3-5 sessions (see below). Use these data to divide rats into groups (if required) or as an individual rats&#8217; baseline.</li>
		<li>Use test day challenges (Table 2) to further probe behavior.</li>
		<li>For within subjects designs, intersperse training sessions with test day challenge sessions. 
		Note: Test day challenges can be used to complement examination of behavior on the standard task. These manipulations can reveal subtle changes in behavior that are not apparent after extensive training on the standard task and/or be used to gain a better understanding of the nature of a performance deficit.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>5CSRTT Performance Measures
	<ol>
		<li>Use a computer to calculate performance&#160;measures.</li>
		<li>Accuracy of responding (% accuracy): Divide the number of correct responses by the total of correct and incorrect responses. This is the primary measure of attention. 
		[# correct responses/(# correct responses+ # incorrect response)] x&#160;100</li>
		<li>Omissions: Divide the number of trials in which the rat did not respond by the total number of trials completed. % Omissions can reflect attention, but can also be influenced by sedation, motivation and motor ability, thus the interpretation of omissions depends on other performance measures. 
		[# omissions/(# omissions + # correct responses + # incorrect responses)] x&#160;100</li>
		<li>Correct Responses: Divide the number of correct responses by the total number of trials completed. 
		[# correct responses /(# omissions + # correct responses + # incorrect responses)] x&#160;100</li>
		<li>Incorrect Responses: Divide the number of incorrect responses by the total number of trials completed. 
		[# incorrect responses /(# omissions + # correct responses + # incorrect responses)] x&#160;100</li>
		<li>Premature Responses: Determine the number of responses made during the ITI. This is the primary measure of impulsive behavior.</li>
		<li>Perseverative Responses: Determine the number of nose poke responses into any aperture after the rat has made a correct response but before retrieval of the sugar pellet. This is a measure of compulsive behavior.</li>
		<li>Magazine Entries: Determine the number of nose poke responses into the magazine. This is a measure of motivation.</li>
		<li>Latency to Correct Response: Calculate the average time from the onset of the stimulus to a correct response; a measure of processing speed or decision-making.</li>
		<li>Latency to Incorrect Response: Calculate the average time from the onset of the stimulus to an incorrect response; a measure of processing speed or decision-making.</li>
		<li>Reward Retrieval Latency: Calculate the average time for a rat to retrieve the sugar pellet reward; can reflect motivation.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

The 5CSRTT is a widely used task to assess attention and impulse control in rodents. Attention is most commonly measured by accuracy of responding1,7,10. Because accuracy of responding does not include omissions and because both correct and incorrect responses have the same response requirement (i.e., a nose poke in an aperture), accuracy is not influenced by locomotor ability, motivation or sedation. The % omissions can also be used as a measure of attention because well trained rodents will...

The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) was developed by Trevor Robbins and colleagues at the University of Cambridge in order to understand the behavioral deficits displayed by people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)1,2. It is based upon continuous performance tasks used to study attention in humans3; with attention being defined as the ability to allocate and sustain the focus of cognitive resources on specific stimuli or information while ignoring other information4. Although the task was originally designed for use with rats1,2, a mouse version has also been developed5,6.
The basic 5CSRTT requires rats to scan a horizontal array of five apertures for the presentation of a brief light stimulus (cue) in one of the apertures; once the rat detects the stimulus it must nose poke in the illuminated aperture to receive a sugar pellet reward. Thus, the task requires rats to both divide their attention across the 5 spatially distinct apertures and to sustain attention until the stimulus is presented in a given trial and across multiple trials in a session1,7. Attention is typically assessed by the accuracy of responses. Although the 5CSRTT was originally designed to assess attention, it is also used to assess impulsive behavior or response inhibition1,7,8: the ability to withhold pre-potent or inappropriate responding9. During the task, rats must withhold responding for the duration of the inter trial interval (ITI) and only respond once the stimulus is presented in one of the apertures1. Thus premature responses, those occurring during the ITI prior to stimulus presentation, provide a useful index of impulsive behavior.
The 5CSRTT is an incredibly flexible task&#8212;there are a number of modifications of the basic task (i.e., test day challenges) that can be implemented to more carefully examine how experimental manipulations affect behavior. For example, decreasing the stimulus duration or shortening the ITI are different mechanisms to increase the attentional load of the task and can be used to systematically assess subdomains of attention1,7,10-12. In contrast, increasing the stimulus duration minimizes the attentional demands of the task; this can be used to determine if a manipulation interferes with the ability to execute the basic response requirements of the task12. Increasing the duration of the ITI can be used to determine whether a particular manipulation affects impulsive responding1,7,8,13-15. Moreover, using test day challenges, such as those just described, can reveal deficits10 or enhancements16,17 of behavior that are not apparent in well trained rats tested using standard testing parameters.
Importantly, the 5CSRTT is amenable to combination with a number of different techniques; for example cognition has been investigated following lesions of discrete brain areas10,18-20, or selective neurotransmitter depletions2,21,22. Behavioral pharmacological investigations have used either systemic16,17,23-28 or discrete intracranial administration of drugs29-32. Moreover performance is easily assessed after acute12,16,17,29-32 and chronic drug administration13,14,23,33. The effects of task performance on neurotransmitter release34 and metabolic activity35 in discrete brain areas have also been assessed. In addition, performance on the task can be used to separate rats into groups based on baseline attentional performance30,31 or levels of impulsivity15,32. Finally, with the advent of a mouse version of the 5CSRTT5,6, the task has been used to investigate the genetic contributions to attention and impulse control5,36-39.

Because the 5CSRTT assesses multiple cognitive functions simultaneously and is amenable to use in combination of a variety of pharmacological, molecular and genetic approaches it has been routinely used to assess cognitive dysfunction in the context of animal models of psychiatric and neurological disorders. For example, the 5CSRTT has been used to investigate the neurobiology underlying the cognitive disruptions in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)37,40,41, schizophrenia23,33,42, drug addiction13,14,43-45, Alzheimer&#8217;s disease18,39, Parkinson&#8217;s disease36, and Huntington&#8217;s disease37.

This protocol provides guidelines for training rats on the 5CSRTT. Because a number of performance measures can be collected, we describe how common patterns of results should be interpreted. In addition several common modifications to the basic protocol, the test day challenges, are described.

<table><tbody><tr><td>Five Hole Nose Poke Wall Chamber Package</td><td>Med-Associates</td><td>MED-NP5L-D1</td><td>Alternatively one could use the standard package (Catalog #:MED-NP5L-B1)&lt;br/&gt; Deluxe</td></tr><tr><td>Dustless Precision Pellet</td><td>Bio-Serv</td><td>F0021</td><td>45 mg Purified</td></tr></tbody></table>

the 5-choice serial reaction time task: a task of attention and impulse control for rodents

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. Test day challenges, modifications to the standard task, can be used to systematically tax the neural systems controlling either attention or impulse control. Importantly, these challenges have consistent effects on behavior across laboratories in intact animals and can reveal either enhancements or deficits in cognitive function that are not apparent when rats are only tested on the standard task. The variety of behavioral measures that are collected can be used to determine if other factors (i.e., sedation, motivation deficits, locomotor impairments) are contributing to changes in performance. The versatility of the 5CSRTT is further enhanced because it is amenable to combination with pharmacological, molecular, and genetic techniques.

Manipulations of the 5CSRTT that Probe Visuospatial Attention 
One approach to varying the attentional demands of the task is to alter the duration of the stimulus. As the stimulus duration decreases, % accuracy decreases (Figure 3A) and % omissions increase (Figure 3B; adapted from 12). Thus shorter stimulus durations increase the attentional demands of the task and longer stimulus durations decrease the attentional demands of the task. Chang...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents at JoVE.com

The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. Test day challenges, which are modifications of the standard task, increase flexibility of the task and can be combined with other manipulations to more fully characterize behavior.

This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. ...

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JoVE Journal

Behavior

45.8K Views.  Oberlin College. This protocol describes the 5-choice serial reaction time task, which is an operant based task used to study attention and impulse control in rodents. Test day challenges, which are modifications of the standard task, increase flexibility of the task and can be combined with other manipulations to more fully characterize behavior.

Video: The 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task: A Task of Attention and Impulse Control for Rodents

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments

Rodents have been traditionally used as a standard animal model in laboratory experiments involving a myriad of sensory, cognitive, and motor tasks. Higher cognitive functions that require precise control over sensorimotor responses such as decision-making and attentional modulation, however, are typically assessed in nonhuman primates. Despite the richness of primate behavior that allows multiple variants of these functions to be studied, the rodent model remains an attractive, cost-effective alternative to primate models. Furthermore, the ability to fully automate operant conditioning in rodents adds unique advantages over the labor intensive training of nonhuman primates while studying a broad range of these complex functions.
Here, we introduce a protocol for operantly conditioning rats on performing working memory tasks. During critical epochs of the task, the protocol ensures that the animal's overt movement is minimized by requiring the animal to 'fixate' until a Go cue is delivered, akin to nonhuman primate experimental design. A simple two alternative forced choice task is implemented to demonstrate the performance. We discuss the application of this paradigm to other tasks.

A fully automated protocol for rodent operant conditioning is proposed. The protocol relies on precise temporal control of behavioral events to investigate the extent to which this control influences neural activity underlying sensorimotor integration and cognitive control experiments.

Rodents have been traditionally used as a standard animal model in laboratory experiments involving a myriad of sensory, cognitive, and motor tasks. ...

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Neuropsychological tasks used in primates to investigate mechanisms of learning and memory are typically visually guided cognitive tasks. We have developed visual cognitive tasks for rats using the Floor Projection Maze1,2&#160;that are optimized for visual abilities of rats permitting stronger comparisons of experimental findings with other species.
In order to investigate neural correlates of learning and memory, we have integrated electrophysiological recordings into fully automated cognitive tasks on the Floor Projection Maze1,2. Behavioral software interfaced with an animal tracking system allows monitoring of the animal's behavior with precise control of image presentation and reward contingencies for better trained animals. Integration with an in vivo electrophysiological recording system enables examination of behavioral correlates of neural activity at selected epochs of a given cognitive task.
We describe protocols for a model system that combines automated visual presentation of information to rodents and intracranial reward with electrophysiological approaches. Our model system offers a sophisticated set of tools as a framework for other cognitive tasks to better isolate and identify specific mechanisms contributing to particular cognitive processes.

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Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Fear of certain threat and anxiety about uncertain threat are distinct emotions with unique behavioral, cognitive-attentional, and neuroanatomical components. Both anxiety and fear can be studied in the laboratory by measuring the potentiation of the startle reflex. The startle reflex is a defensive reflex that is potentiated when an organism is threatened and the need for defense is high. The startle reflex is assessed via electromyography (EMG) in the orbicularis oculi muscle elicited by brief, intense, bursts of acoustic white noise (i.e., &#8220;startle probes&#8221;). Startle potentiation is calculated as the increase in startle response magnitude during presentation of sets of visual threat cues that signal delivery of mild electric shock relative to sets of matched cues that signal the absence of shock (no-threat cues). In the Threat Probability Task, fear is measured via startle potentiation to high probability (100% cue-contingent shock; certain) threat cues whereas anxiety is measured via startle potentiation to low probability (20% cue-contingent shock; uncertain) threat cues. Measurement of startle potentiation during the Threat Probability Task provides an objective and easily implemented alternative to assessment of negative affect via self-report or other methods (e.g., neuroimaging) that may be inappropriate or impractical for some researchers. Startle potentiation has been studied rigorously in both animals (e.g., rodents, non-human primates) and humans which facilitates animal-to-human translational research. Startle potentiation during certain and uncertain threat provides an objective measure of negative affective and distinct emotional states (fear, anxiety) to use in research on psychopathology, substance use/abuse and broadly in affective science. As such, it has been used extensively by clinical scientists interested in psychopathology etiology and by affective scientists interested in individual differences in emotion.

Potentiation of the startle reflex is measured via electromyography of the orbicularis oculi muscle during low (uncertain) and high (certain) probability electric shock threat in the Threat Probability Task. This provides an objective measure of distinct negative emotional states (fear/anxiety) for research on psychopathology, substance use/abuse, and broad affective science.

Fear of certain threat and anxiety about uncertain threat are distinct emotions with unique behavioral, cognitive-attentional, and neuroanatomical ...

The Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test (rPVT): A Method for Assessing Neurobehavioral Performance in Rats and Mice

The human Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is a widely used procedure for measuring changes in fatigue and sustained attention. The present article describes a rodent version of the PVT&#8212;termed the &#34;rPVT&#34;&#8212;that measures similar aspects of attention (i.e., performance accuracy, motor speed, premature responding, and lapses in attention). Data are presented that demonstrate both the short- and long-term usefulness of the rPVT when employed with laboratory rats. Rats easily learn the rPVT, and learning to perform the basic procedure takes less than two weeks of training. Once acquired, rat performances in the rPVT show a high degree of similarity to these same performance measures in the human PVT, including similarities in, lapses in attention, reaction times, vigilance decrements across session time (i.e., the human &#34;time-on-task&#34; effects), and the response-stimulus interval (RSI) effect described for humans. Thus the rPVT can be an extremely valuable tool for assessing the effects of a wide range of variables on sustained attention quite similar to human PVT performances, and thus can be useful for developing novel treatments for neurobehavioral dysfunctions.

The Rodent Psychomotor Vigilance Test rPVT: A Method for Assessing Neurobehavioral Performance in Rats and Mice

A rat version of the human Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is described that measures aspects of attention similar to those measured with the human PVT, including aspects of human vigilance such as performance accuracy, motor speed, premature responding, and lapses in attention.

The human Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) is a widely used procedure for measuring changes in fatigue and sustained attention. The present article ...

A Fully Automated and Highly Versatile System for Testing Multi-cognitive Functions and Recording Neuronal Activities in Rodents

We have developed a fully automated system for operant behavior testing and neuronal activity recording by which multiple cognitive brain functions can be investigated in a single task sequence. The unique feature of this system is a custom-made, acoustically transparent chamber that eliminates many of the issues associated with auditory cue control in most commercially available chambers. The ease with which operant devices can be added or replaced makes this system quite versatile, allowing for the implementation of a variety of auditory, visual, and olfactory behavioral tasks. Automation of the system allows fine temporal (10 ms) control and precise time-stamping of each event in a predesigned behavioral sequence. When combined with a multi-channel electrophysiology recording system, multiple cognitive brain functions, such as motivation, attention, decision-making, patience, and rewards, can be examined sequentially or independently.

In this report, we present a fully automated and highly versatile system capable of simultaneously testing multi-cognitive behaviors and recording neuronal activities for rodents.

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Neuroscience

Automated, Long-term Behavioral Assay for Cognitive Functions in Multiple Genetic Models of Alzheimer's Disease, Using IntelliCage

Multiple factors&#8212;such as aging and genes&#8212;are frequently associated with cognitive decline. Genetically modified mouse models of cognitive decline, such as Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD), have become a promising tool to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and promote the therapeutic advances. An important step is the validation and characterization of expected behavioral abnormality in the models, in the case of AD, cognitive decline. The long-term behavioral investigations of laboratory animals to study the effect of aging demand substantial efforts from researchers. The IntelliCage system is a high-throughput and cost-effective test battery for mice that eliminates the need for daily human handling. Here, we describe how the system is utilized in the long-term phenotyping of a genetic Alzheimer&#39;s disease model, specifically focusing on the cognitive functions. The experiment employs repeated battery of tests that assess spatial learning and executive functions. This cost-effective age-dependent phenotyping allows us to identify the transient and/or permanent effects of genes on various cognitive aspects.

This paper describes a protocol for cognitive assessments for genetic models of the Alzheimer&#39;s disease using the IntelliCage system, which is a high throughput automated behavioral monitoring system with operant conditioning.

Multiple factors&#8212;such as aging and genes&#8212;are frequently associated with cognitive decline. Genetically modified mouse models of cognitive ...

Three Laboratory Procedures for Assessing Different Manifestations of Impulsivity in Rats

The present article provides a guide for the conduction and analysis of three conditioning-based protocols to evaluate impulsivity in rats. Impulsivity is a meaningful concept because it is associated with psychiatric conditions in humans and with maladaptive behavior in non-human animals. It is believed that impulsivity is composed of separate factors. There are laboratory protocols devised to assess each of these factors using standardized automated equipment. Delay discounting is associated with the incapacity to be motivated by delayed outcomes. This factor is evaluated through intertemporal choice protocols, which consist&#160;of presenting the individual with a choice situation involving an immediate reward and a larger but delayed reward. Response inhibition deficit is associated with the incapacity to withhold prepotent responses. Differential reinforcement of low rates (DLR) and feature-negative discrimination protocols assess the response inhibition deficit factor of impulsivity. The former imposes a condition to a motivated individual in which most wait a minimum period of time for a response to be rewarded. The latter evaluates the capacity of individuals to refrain from food seeking responses when a signal of the absence of food is presented. The purpose of these protocols is to construct an objective quantitative measure of impulsivity, which serves to make cross-species comparisons, allowing the possibility of translational research. The advantages of these particular protocols include their easy set-up and application, which stems from the relatively small amount of equipment needed and the automated nature of these protocols.

We present three protocols that assess different forms of impulsivity in rats and other small mammals. Intertemporal choice procedures evaluate the tendency to discount the value of delayed outcomes. Differential reinforcement of low rates and feature-negative discrimination evaluate response inhibition capacity with and without punishment for inappropriate responses, respectively.

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The present protocol describes a novel conflict task as a model of inhibitory control in rats. In this model, a natural rewarding stimulus (sexual stimulus) that represents a high-value reward, and the aversive stimuli (pins), are concurrently presented. The male rats have to climb or jump over the obstacle full of pins to approach and investigate the sexual partner. If the animal persists in their approaching behavior regardless of the aversive stimuli, it is considered as a maladaptive or risky reward-seeking behavior. The conflict task permits the evaluation of deficit in inhibitory control resulting from exposure to abused drug, such as morphine, or a stressful event. 
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This conflict model is used to measure the impairment of inhibitory control after exposure to addictive drugs, or other factors that may influence inhibitory control. A sexual stimulus and an aversive obstacle are concurrently presented, thus male rats have to conquer the obstacle to approach the sexual reward.

The present protocol describes a novel conflict task as a model of inhibitory control in rats. In this model, a natural rewarding stimulus (sexual ...

An Open-Source, Fully Customizable 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task Toolbox for Automated Behavioral Training of Rodents

The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) is a behavioral test often used to study visuospatial attention and impulsiveness in rodents. The task requires animals to allocate attention to a horizontal array of five small apertures equipped with light sources and, within a limited time window, nose-poke one illuminated target aperture to get a food reward at the food magazine located in the opposite wall of the chamber. The task considers behavioral control measures such as response accuracy and reaction times and allows to infer selective attention and impulsivity. Task difficulty can be controlled by modifying the stimulus duration and task design in general. Commercially available apparatus usually consists of an experimental chamber and particular software to specify task parameters, but due to fixed hard- and software, they pose many limitations on changes in the general experimental design and specific task requirements and the related data output. This article explains a fully customizable alternative based on an easy-to-use single-board microcontroller and standard electrotechnical components, an open-access Arduino script, and a Matlab-toolbox for hardware control and behavioral task specifications, respectively. The toolbox includes an optional staircase procedure, enabling automated behavioral training. The complete hardware setup, which can be installed in customized chambers, and the freely adaptable software encourage non-standardized task and chamber design. The design of the system and the open-source code for hardware control and experimental setup are described.

The present protocol describes the development of an open-source 5-choice serial reaction time task toolbox for rodent animal models, using Arduino and related hardware and a versatile Matlab toolbox, including an optional script for automated behavioral training. The scripts are customizable and facilitate the implementation of different trial-and-test designs.

The 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) is a behavioral test often used to study visuospatial attention and impulsiveness in rodents. The task ...

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task (SAT) for Rats

Sustained attention is the ability to monitor intermittent and unpredictable events over a prolonged period of time. This attentional process subserves other aspects of cognition and is disrupted in certain neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, it is clinically important to identify mechanisms that impair and improve sustained attention. Such mechanisms are often first discovered using rodent models. Therefore, several behavior procedures for testing aspects of sustained attention have been developed for rodents. One, first described by McGaughy and Sarter (1995), called the sustained attention task (SAT), trains rats to distinguish between signal (i.e., brief light presentation) and non-signal trials. The signals are short and thus require careful attention to be perceived. Attentional demands can be increased further by introducing a distractor (e.g., flashing houselight). We have modified this task for touchscreen operant chambers, which are configured with a touchscreen on one wall that can present stimuli and record responses. Here we detail our protocol for SAT in touchscreen chambers. Additionally, we present standard measures of performance in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Comparable performance on this task in both sexes highlights its use for attention studies, especially as more researchers are including female rodents in their experimental design. Moreover, the easy implementation of SAT for the increasingly popular touchscreen chambers increases its utility.

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task SAT for Rats

Sustained attention, or continuously monitoring situations for intermittent and unpredictable events, is a critical aspect of cognition. Here we detail how to test sustained attention in rats using touchscreen operant chambers. We demonstrate comparable performance in male and female rats, making this task useful for studying attention in both sexes.

Sustained attention is the ability to monitor intermittent and unpredictable events over a prolonged period of time. This attentional process subserves ...