Operant procedures for assessing behavioral flexibility in rats

Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE
Anne Marie Brady, Stan B Floresco

Abstract

Executive functions consist of multiple high-level cognitive processes that drive rule generation and behavioral selection. An emergent property of these processes is the ability to adjust behavior in response to changes in one's environment (i.e., behavioral flexibility). These processes are essential to normal human behavior, and may be disrupted in diverse neuropsychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia, alcoholism, depression, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. Understanding of the neurobiology of executive functions has been greatly advanced by the availability of animal tasks for assessing discrete components of behavioral flexibility, particularly strategy shifting and reversal learning. While several types of tasks have been developed, most are non-automated, labor intensive, and allow testing of only one animal at a time. The recent development of automated, operant-based tasks for assessing behavioral flexibility streamlines testing, standardizes stimulus presentation and data recording, and dramatically improves throughput. Here, we describe automated strategy shifting and reversal tasks, using operant chambers controlled by custom written software programs. Using these tasks, we have shown that the medial prefron...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 3, 2016·Psychopharmacology·Brittney M CoxRonald E See
Apr 14, 2016·Neuroscience·Jessica L Hurtubise, John G Howland
Aug 24, 2018·Nicotine & Tobacco Research : Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco·Alvin V Terry, Patrick M Callahan
Apr 30, 2019·Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience·Jianhong ZhouJiang-Fan Chen
Mar 19, 2021·Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science·Luiz Henrique Santana, Miriam Garcia-Mijares
Apr 13, 2021·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Eden M AndersonMatthew Hearing
May 8, 2020·Translational Psychiatry·Alexander VerbitskyNanyin Zhang

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