title: Automated chair-training of rhesus macaques.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neuroscience research on non-human primates usually requires the animals to sit in a chair. To do this, typically monkeys are fitted with collars and trained to enter the chairs using either a pole, leash and jump cage. Animals may initially show resistance and risk injury. We have developed an automated chair-training method that minimizes restraints to ease the animals into their chairs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed a method to automatically train animals to enter a primate chair and stick out their heads for neckplate placement. To do this, we fitted the chairs with Arduino microcontrollers coupled to a water-reward system and touch- and proximity sensors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the animals responded well to the chair, partially entering the chair within hours, sitting inside the chair within days and allowing us to manually introduce a door and neck plate, all within 14-21 sessions. Although each session could last many hours, automation meant that actual training person-hours could be as little as half an hour per day. The biggest advantage was that animals showed little resistance to entering the chair, compared to monkeys trained by leash pulling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This automated chair-training method can take longer than the standard collar-and-leash approach, but multiple macaques can be trained in parallel with fewer person-hours. It is also a promising method for animal-use refinement and in our case, it was the only effective training approach for an animal suffering from a behavioral pathology.
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Electronic address: crponce@gmail.com.
authors: C R
authors: CR
authors: Ponce
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors: M P
authors: MP
authors: Genecin
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Perez-Melara
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors: M S
authors: MS
authors: Livingstone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Arduino; Chair training; Macaque; Microcontroller; Reinforcement