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Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning

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Published on: October 22, 2015

Appetitive conditioning task in a shuttle box and its comparison with the active avoidance paradigm.

Daniil Sergeevich Berezhnoy^1,2, Tatiana Aleksandrovna Zamorina³, Anatoly Nikolaevich Inozemtsev³

¹Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234, Leninskie gory, 1s12, Russia. berezhnoy.daniil@gmail.com.

Learning & Behavior

|March 27, 2020

Summary

A novel appetitive task in a shuttle box was developed, offering a faster learning alternative to active avoidance. This food-motivated approach provides a valuable control for fear-based learning studies.

Keywords:

Active avoidance Appetitive Automated task Conditioning Instrumental Learning Pavlovian Shuttle box

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Animal Behavior
Learning and Memory

Background:

The Shuttle Box Active Avoidance paradigm is automated but confounded by fear motivation.
Punishment and negative reinforcement complicate learning in traditional avoidance tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and evaluate a novel computer-controlled appetitive task in a shuttle box.
To compare this appetitive task with the standard active avoidance paradigm.

Main Methods:

Developed an appetitive task using a shuttle box with food dispensers.
Reinforced a locomotor response (transition to a food source) upon stimulus presentation.
Compared learning acquisition and intertrial responses (ITRs) with active avoidance.

Main Results:

Animals acquired the appetitive task significantly faster than the active avoidance task.
The appetitive task exhibited higher and more persistent intertrial responses compared to active avoidance.
The appetitive task utilized a similar apparatus and response as active avoidance.

Conclusions:

The appetitive shuttle box task offers benefits as a control for active avoidance.
Key advantages include similar apparatus, no prior habituation, and rapid acquisition.
This appetitive model provides a valuable alternative for studying learning without fear-based confounds.