title: Development of a compact and general-purpose experimental apparatus with a touch-sensitive screen for use in evaluating cognitive functions in common marmosets.
abstract: Common marmosets have been used extensively in biomedical research and the recent advent of techniques to generate transgenic marmosets has accelerated the use of this model. New methods that efficiently assess the degree of cognitive function in common marmosets are needed in order to establish their suitability as non-human primate models of higher brain function disorders. Here, we have developed a new apparatus suitable for testing the cognitive functions of common marmosets. Utilizing a mini laptop PC with a touch-sensitive screen as the main component, the apparatus is small and lightweight and can be easily attached to the home cages. The ease of designing and testing new paradigms with the flexible software is another advantage of this system. We have tested visual discrimination and its reversal tasks using this apparatus and confirmed its efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takemoto
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Katsuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002144:Callithrix / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D023421:Models, Animal; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011589:Psychology, Experimental / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software; D014110:Touch; D014584:User-Computer Interface