BALB/c Mice Can Learn Touchscreen Visual Discrimination and Reversal Tasks Faster than C57BL/6 Mice.

Touchscreen technology is increasingly being used to characterize cognitive performance in rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Researchers are attracted to the automated system and translational potential for touchscreen-based tasks. However, training time is extensive and some mouse strains have struggled to learn touchscreen tasks.

Measuring Attention in Rodents: Comparison of a Modified Signal Detection Task and the 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task.

Neuropsychiatric research has utilized cognitive testing in rodents to improve our understanding of cognitive deficits and for preclinical drug development. However, more sophisticated cognitive tasks have not been as widely exploited due to low throughput and the extensive training time required. We developed a modified signal detection task (SDT) based on the growing body of literature aimed at improving cognitive testing in rodents.