大鼠遥控导航及其行为训练系统的研究

本研究开发了一套大鼠遥控导航及行为训练系统,通过无线微刺激器刺激大鼠特定脑区,实现对动物运动行为的控制。系统的主要部分有:集成的PC机控制程序(包括通讯、参数设置和数据文件管理等功能)、采用蓝牙模块制作的发射器和接收器、基于C8051微处理器控制的刺激器、无线摄像系统,用于压杆实验的操作箱和用于行为训练的八臂迷宫。刺激器有恒压或恒流两种工作模式,具有幅值可调的特性,可以方便地设置刺激参数以适应不同的训练目的。系统经过了多种行为学实验的测试:监视和记录大鼠在操作箱的压杆过程、控制大鼠走八臂迷宫、以及遥控引导大鼠按三维障碍路线行走。测试结果表明该系统工作稳定,产生的刺激信号可以有效地控制大鼠不同的转向行为。此外,对大鼠的训练结果表明作用于大鼠体感皮层桶状区(Barrel Field,BF)的刺激可给予大鼠"虚拟的"提示,该提示刺激与内侧前脑束的奖赏刺激联合作用可以训练并引导大鼠完成不同的转向动作。

Researches of Control System for Rat Remote Navigation and Behavior Training

A remote navigating system has been developed to deliver stimuli into the rat brain through a wireless micro-stimulator for animal behavior training.The system mainly consists of the following parts: an integrated PC control program,a transmitter and a receiver based on Bluetooth(BT) modules,a stimulator controlled by C8051 microprocessor,a wireless camera systems as well as an operant chamber and an eight-arm radial maze.The micro-stimulator was featured with its changeable amplitude of pulse output for both constant-voltage and constant-current mode,which provided an easy way to set the proper suitable stimulation parameters for different training.The system was used in behavior experiments for monitoring and recording bar-pressing in the operant chamber,controlling rat roaming in the eight-arm maze,as well as navigating rats through a 3D obstacle route.The results indicated that the system worked stably and that the stimulation was effective for different types of rat behavior controls.In addition,the results showed that stimulation in the whisker barrel region of rat primary somatosensory cortex(SI) acted like a cue.The animals could be trained to take different desired turns upon the association between the SI cue stimulation and the reward stimulation in the medial forebrain bundle(MFB).