Gaze control in cats achieved by rewarding tongue push movements during the flickering of a light-emitting diode.
A method is described for achieving gaze control in cats, by rewarding them for pushing against a lever with their tongue, only when a light-emitting diode (LED) was flickering. Since the state of the LED was changed sequentially from OFF to ON to flickering and the duration of flickering was short, the cats were required to gaze continuously at the LED during its ON period, in order to detect the flickering. After the preliminary training stage, 2-3 weeks were required before the cats performed the task at a higher level than could be predicted by chance. The electro-oculogram indicated that the eyes fixated during the ON period of the LED.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004585:Electrooculography; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000379:methods; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology