An open-source platform for head-fixed operant and consummatory behavior
- University of Washington, United States
- University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Abstract
Head-fixed behavioral experiments in rodents permit unparalleled experimental control, precise measurement of behavior, and concurrent modulation and measurement of neural activity. Here we present OHRBETS (Open-Source Head-fixed Rodent Behavioral Experimental Training System; pronounced 'Orbitz'), a low-cost, open-source platform of hardware and software to flexibly pursue the neural basis of a variety of motivated behaviors. Head-fixed mice tested with OHRBETS displayed operant conditioning for caloric reward that replicates core behavioral phenotypes observed during freely moving conditions. OHRBETS also permits optogenetic intracranial self-stimulation under positive or negative operant conditioning procedures and real-time place preference behavior, like that observed in freely moving assays. In a multi-spout brief-access consumption task, mice displayed licking as a function of concentration of sucrose, quinine, and sodium chloride, with licking modulated by homeostatic or circadian influences. Finally, to highlight the functionality of OHRBETS, we measured mesolimbic dopamine signals during the multi-spout brief-access task that display strong correlations with relative solution value and magnitude of consumption. All designs, programs, and instructions are provided freely online. This customizable platform enables replicable operant and consummatory behaviors and can be incorporated with methods to perturb and record neural dynamics in vivo.
Data availability
All data and analysis code for the paper to reproduce figures and findings can be found at: 10.5281/zenodo.7552454Repository of code required to build the system can be found at:https://github.com/stuberlab/OHRBETS
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA032750)
- Garret D Stuber
National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA038168)
- Garret D Stuber
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Laura A Bradfield, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All animal procedures were pre-approved by Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) at the University of Washington (#4450-01) or University of Illinois at Chicago (#20-031)
Version history
- Received: January 14, 2023
- Preprint posted: January 16, 2023 (view preprint)
- Accepted: July 15, 2023
- Accepted Manuscript published: August 9, 2023 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: September 13, 2023 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2023, Gordon-Fennell et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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An open-source platform for head-fixed operant and consummatory behavior
eLife 12:e86183.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86183
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