title: Behavioral assessment of visual acuity in mice and rats.
abstract: We have developed a simple computer-based discrimination task that enables the quick determination of visual acuities in rodents. A grating is displayed randomly on one of two monitors at the wide end of a trapezoidal-shaped tank containing shallow water. Animals are trained to swim toward the screens, and at a fixed distance, choose the screen displaying the grating and escape to a submerged platform hidden below it. Both mice and rats learn the task quickly. Performance falls below 70% when the spatial frequency is increased beyond 0.5 cycles in most C57BU6 mice, and around 1.0 cycles per degree (cpd) in Long-Evans rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, AB, TIK 3M4, Lethbridge, Canada. prusky@uleth.ca
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Prusky
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011601:Psychophysics; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*