Journal article
Category learning in rodents using touchscreen-based tasks
Genes, brain and behavior, Vol.20(1), pp.e12665-n/a
01/2021
DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12665
PMID: 32383519
Abstract
Categorization is a fundamental cognitive function that organizes our experiences into meaningful "chunks." This category knowledge can then be generalized to novel stimuli and situations. Multiple clinical populations, including people with Parkinson's disease, amnesia, autism, ADHD and schizophrenia, have impairments in the acquisition and use of categories. Although rodent research is well suited for examining the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive functions, many rodent cognitive tasks have limited translational value. To bridge this gap, we use touchscreens to permit greater flexibility in stimulus presentation and task design, track key dependent measures, and minimize experimenter involvement. Touchscreens offer a valuable tool for creating rodent cognitive tasks that are directly comparable to tasks used with humans. Touchscreen tasks are also readily used with cutting-edge neuroscientific methods that are difficult to do in humans such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, neurophysiology and calcium imaging (using miniscopes). In this review, we show advantages of touchscreen-based tasks for studying category learning in rats. We also address multiple factors for consideration when designing category learning tasks, including the limitations of the rodent visual system, experimental design, and analysis strategies.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Category learning in rodents using touchscreen-based tasks
- Creators
- Matthew B Broschard - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USAJangjin Kim - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USABradley C Love - Department of Experimental Psychology and The Alan Turing Institute, University College London, London, UKJohn H Freeman - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Genes, brain and behavior, Vol.20(1), pp.e12665-n/a
- Publisher
- England
- DOI
- 10.1111/gbb.12665
- PMID
- 32383519
- ISSN
- 1601-1848
- eISSN
- 1601-183X
- Grant note
- P01-HD080679 / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development P01 HD080679 / NICHD NIH HHS WT106931MA / Wellcome Trust
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2021
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984065859102771
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