A study on the effect of multisensory stimulation in behaving rats

This study explored the psychophysical effects of intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) coupled to auditory stimulation during a behavioral detection task in rats. ICMS directed to the sensory areas of the cortex can be instrumental in facilitating operant conditioning behavior. Moreover, multisensory stimulation promotes learning by enabling the subject to access multiple information channels. However, the extent to which multisensory information can be used as a cue to make decisions has not been fully understood. This study addressed the exploration of the parameters of multisensory stimulation delivered to behaving rats in an operant conditioning task. Preliminary data indicate that animal decisions can be shaped by online changing the stimulation parameters.