This is a repository for the Arduino based lateralized licking task. In the repository, you can find:
- ArduinoCodes: folder, where you will find Arduino files for implementing the task.
- MATLABcode: folder, where you will find the MATLAB GUI script for the tapered fiber lauching system.
- BehaviorAnalysis: folder, where you will find basic MATLAB analysis codes for looking at the effect of stimulation during the lateralized licking task.
- RecordingAnalysis: folder, where you will find basic MATLAB scripts for analyzing in vivo recording data during the task.
- BuildTheRig: folder, where you will a parts-list and instructions on how to build a similar rig for the licking task.
We adapted a headfixed lateralized licking task, inspired from Guo, et al (2013). We use auditory tones instead of pole position, and we do not implement a delay period so mice can lick as soon as they hear the tones. Here is a simple schematic of the task (adapted from Lee, et al, 2020):
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The mouse is trained to withold licking for 2-4 seconds (Inter-trial-interval). Tone comes in (3kHz or 12kHz) indicating which spout is the correct spout. After contact with the spout, solenoid immediately release water rewards on the relevant spout. The task then goes back into the ITI period. ITI length is chosed randomly from 2-4 sec (adjutable) and the clock is reset everytime the mouse licks. If the mouse doesn't lick after a certain time window after the cue (500ms, adjustable), the mouse is punished with a timeout period (6 sec, adjustable). The task also plays the same tone after an incorrect lick to ensure mouse does not lick to just one spout during training (this part can be removed after training).
Adjutable parameters (via Arduino):
- Reward size
- ITI length
- Timeout length
- Reaction window
- Tone Frequency
- Incorrect trial repeat (yes or no)
The code also allows to send digital On/Off signals to trigger Auxilary output (e.g. Laser Stimulation/Camera Trigger).
The code can be flexibly modified to implement different variants of the headfixed licking task (e.g. Two-armed-bandit). We provide two other versions of the task that might be of interest (see ArduinoCodes).