A novel food-delivery device for neurophysiological and neuropsychological studies in monkeys.
Neurophysiological and neuropsychological studies in monkeys sometimes require an automated food-pellet dispenser. Commercially available dispensers typically sequester the pellet until delivery and, once delivered, the pellet's availability cannot be controlled. The custom-designed dispenser described here overcomes those two limitations. The device is composed of two separate units: a feeder and an electronic controller. The feeder manipulates food pellets with actuators driven by air pressure and delivers them into a serving bowl. The controller's settings determine whether the monkey can retrieve a pellet from the bowl. If the experiment requires that the pellet be visible and within reach, but unavailable for retrieval, the controller enables a trap-door mechanism at the bottom of the bowl. Any motion near the serving bowl, such as that caused by the approach of a monkey's hand, will then trigger the opening of the trap door, which causes the pellet to fall into an enclosed pellet collector. This rapid pellet-removal mechanism can also be triggered by other computer-controlled contingencies. Two of these dispensers have been in operation in an applied laboratory setting for over 2 years.
Mitz
A R
AR
Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, 49 Convent Drive, Building 49, Room B1EE17, Bethesda, MD 20892-4401, USA. arm@nih.gov
Boring
S A
SA
Wise
S P
SP
Lebedev
M A
MA
D000465:Algorithms; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000592:standards*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005248:Feeding Methods / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D005509:Food Dispensers, Automatic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006799:Housing, Animal / Q000592:standards*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009484:Neuropsychology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods