Graduate Program in Neuroengineering, Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience, Santos Dumont Institute, Rodovia RN 160, Km 3, n. 3003, Macaiba, RN, 59280-000, Brazil.
Alberto Santos Dumont Association for Research Support, Macaíba, RN, 59280-000, Brazil.
Behav Res Methods. 2018 Apr;50(2):816-825. doi: 10.3758/s13428-017-0906-6.
Operant-conditioning boxes are widely used in animal training, allowing researchers to shape specific behaviors through reinforcements and/or punishments. Commercially available devices are expensive and run with proprietary software and hardware, hampering adaptations for the specific needs of an experiment. Therefore, many low-cost and open-source devices have recently been developed, but there are still few options for studying auditory behaviors. To overcome this problem, we developed a device based on a computer and an Arduino Mega 2560 board, named OBAT (Operant Box for Auditory Tasks), designed to present two different auditory stimuli to small primates. It has three modules: sound delivery, response bars, and reward system. We estimate that OBAT is at least 4-10 times cheaper than commercially available operant-conditioning boxes. Data from a behavioral pilot test ensured that the device can be used to train a marmoset in an auditory discrimination task. In addition, despite its low cost, accuracy tests showed that the OBAT operates with a high temporal precision. All schematics and software source code are available so that other groups can easily replicate the experiment or adapt the device to their own needs.
操作条件箱广泛应用于动物训练，使研究人员能够通过强化和/或惩罚来塑造特定的行为。市售设备价格昂贵，且运行专有软件和硬件，这阻碍了针对实验特定需求的适应。因此，最近已经开发了许多低成本和开源设备，但仍很少有用于研究听觉行为的选择。为了克服这个问题，我们开发了一种基于计算机和 Arduino Mega 2560 板的设备，名为 OBAT（听觉任务操作箱），旨在向小型灵长类动物呈现两种不同的听觉刺激。它有三个模块：声音传输、反应棒和奖励系统。我们估计 OBAT 的价格至少比市售的操作条件箱便宜 4-10 倍。行为预测试的数据确保了该设备可以用于训练猕猴进行听觉辨别任务。此外，尽管成本低，但精度测试表明 OBAT 具有高精度的时间精度。所有原理图和软件源代码都可用，以便其他小组可以轻松复制实验或根据自己的需求调整设备。
