Watanabe Kei, Funahashi Shintaro
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Tokyo 102-8472, Japan; Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
J Neurosci Methods. 2015 May 15;246:1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.03.006. Epub 2015 Mar 10.
The dual-task paradigm is a procedure in which subjects are asked to perform two behavioral tasks concurrently, each of which involves a distinct goal with a unique stimulus-response association. Due to the heavy demand on subject's cognitive abilities, human studies using this paradigm have provided detailed insights regarding how the components of cognitive systems are functionally organized and implemented. Although dual-task paradigms are widely used in human studies, they are seldom used in nonhuman animal studies.
We propose a novel dual-task paradigm for monkeys that requires the simultaneous performance of two cognitively demanding component tasks, each of which uses an independent effector for behavioral responses (hand and eyes). We provide a detailed description of an optimal training protocol for this paradigm, which has been lacking in the existing literature.
An analysis of behavioral performance showed that the proposed dual-task paradigm (1) was quickly learned by monkeys (less than 40 sessions) with step-by-step training protocols, (2) produced specific behavioral effects, known as dual-task interference in human studies, and (3) achieved rigid and independent control of the effectors for behavioral responses throughout the trial.
The proposed dual-task paradigm has a scalable task structure, in that each of the two component tasks can be easily replaced by other tasks, while preserving the overall structure of the paradigm.
This paradigm should be useful for investigating executive control that underlies dual-task performance at both the behavioral and neuronal levels.
双任务范式是一种要求受试者同时执行两项行为任务的程序，每项任务都涉及一个具有独特刺激 - 反应关联的不同目标。由于对受试者认知能力要求较高，使用该范式的人体研究已就认知系统的组成部分如何在功能上组织和实施提供了详细见解。尽管双任务范式在人体研究中广泛使用，但在非人类动物研究中很少使用。
我们为猴子提出了一种新颖的双任务范式，该范式要求同时执行两项需要认知能力的组成任务，每项任务都使用独立的效应器进行行为反应（手和眼睛）。我们详细描述了该范式的最佳训练方案，而现有文献中缺乏这方面内容。
行为表现分析表明，所提出的双任务范式（1）通过逐步训练方案，猴子能快速学会（少于40次训练），（2）产生了特定的行为效应，即人体研究中所知的双任务干扰，（3）在整个试验过程中实现了对行为反应效应器的严格且独立控制。
所提出的双任务范式具有可扩展的任务结构，因为两个组成任务中的每一个都可以很容易地被其他任务替代，同时保留范式的整体结构。
该范式对于在行为和神经元水平上研究双任务表现背后的执行控制应该是有用的。
