Bussey-Saksida Mouse Touch Screen Chamber Package

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.

• Not just a touch screen, everything about the Bussey-Saksida chamber is different
• Not just another square sheet metal box, the Bussey-Saksida chamber has a unique trapezoidal wall shape to focus the animal's attention and is made from machined parts that simply slot together. The chamber can also be configured to a modular square chamber with panels, levers, lights, and a range of other operator
• This equipment can run both autoshaping and a variety of operant tasks in the same chamber, with chamber configuration from autoshaping to one of the other proven paradigms in seconds Not just a touch screen, this is the ultimate modular chamber for high throughput. For example, do Visual Discrimination and Reversal in the morning and Five Choice Serial Reaction Time Task in the afternoon
• To enable such a high throughput, the chamber can be taken apart and reassembled in seconds for easy cleaning

• Get up and running quickly, with the Easy-Install Kit and buy proven tasks pre-programmed in ABET II Touch or get programming yourself quickly and easily with web-enabled online help from Campden Instruments and Lafayette Instrument Company
• Translational research: test rodents on tasks virtually identical to tasks used to test human populations
• The Bussey-Saksida Chambers and WhiskerServer ® originate from the department of Prof. Trevor Robbins, Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England

TOUCH SCREEN PARADIGMS

Visit DOWNLOADS for videos of these tasks.

• Visual Discrimination and Reversal (VDR)
• Paired Associate Learning (PAL)
• Location Discrimination (LD)
• Visuospatial Conditional Learning (VCL)
• 5-choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5-CSRT)
• Trial-Unique Nonmatching-to-Location (TUNL) [rat only at this time]
• Autoshaping
• Extinction

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-.

INCLUDES

• Touch Screen
• Chamber Base with non-shock perforated floors
• Trapezodal Walls
• Feeder Reward Area
• Liquid Pump Feeder
• Speaker
• House Light
• White Noise / Tone Generator
• SAC

Chamber shown with modular panel walls (Model 80614-3)
and corresponding reward trough (Model 80614-17).