Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
Behav Res Methods. 2019 Dec;51(6):2559-2572. doi: 10.3758/s13428-018-1109-5.
Training nonhuman primates (NHPs) to perform cognitive tasks is essential for many neuroscientific investigations, yet laboratory training is a time-consuming process with inherent limitations. Habituating NHPs to the laboratory staff and experimental equipment can take months before NHPs are ready to proceed to the primary tasks. Laboratory training also necessarily separates NHPs from their home-room social group and typically involves some form of restraint or limited mobility, and data collection is often limited to a few hours per day so that multiple NHPs can be trained on the same equipment. Consequently, it can often take a year to train NHPs on complex cognitive tasks. To overcome these issues, we developed a low-cost, open-source, wireless touchscreen training system that can be installed in the home-room environment. The automated device can run continuously all day, including over weekends, without experimenter intervention. The system utilizes real-time facial recognition to initiate subject-specific tasks and provide accurate data logging, without the need for implanted microchips or separation of the NHPs. The system allows NHPs to select their preferred reward on each trial and to work when and for as long as they desire, and it can analyze task performance in real time and adapt the task parameters in order to expedite training. We demonstrate that NHPs consistently use this system on a daily basis to quickly learn complex behavioral tasks. The system therefore addresses many of the welfare and experimental limitations of laboratory-based training of NHPs and provides a platform for wireless electrophysiological investigations in more naturalistic, freely moving environments.
训练非人类灵长类动物（NHPs）执行认知任务对于许多神经科学研究至关重要，但实验室训练是一个耗时的过程，存在固有局限性。让 NHP 适应实验室工作人员和实验设备可能需要数月的时间，然后 NHP 才能开始进行主要任务。实验室训练还不可避免地将 NHP 与其家庭群体隔离开来，通常涉及某种形式的约束或有限的活动能力，并且数据收集通常每天限制在几个小时以内，以便可以在同一设备上训练多个 NHP。因此，训练 NHP 完成复杂认知任务通常需要一年的时间。为了克服这些问题，我们开发了一种低成本、开源、无线触摸屏训练系统，可以安装在家庭环境中。自动化设备可以全天（包括周末）连续运行，无需实验人员干预。该系统利用实时面部识别来启动特定于主体的任务，并提供准确的数据记录，而无需植入微芯片或分离 NHP。该系统允许 NHP 在每次试验中选择他们喜欢的奖励，并在他们希望的时间和时间内工作，并且可以实时分析任务性能并调整任务参数以加快培训速度。我们证明，NHPs 每天都在使用该系统来快速学习复杂的行为任务。因此，该系统解决了实验室训练 NHP 的许多福利和实验限制问题，并为在更自然、自由移动的环境中进行无线电生理研究提供了一个平台。
