Floor vibrations for motivation and feedback in the rat vibration actuating search task.

ABSTRACT: Motivating rodents to perform cognitive tasks often relies on the application of aversive stimuli. The Vibration Actuating Search Task (VAST) is a novel open-field task in which gradient floor vibration provides motivation for the rodent to navigate in the direction of diminishing vibration to an unmarked target destination. Using floor vibration as a motivational stimulus may overcome several of the potential confounds associated with stimuli used in other tasks. In a series of three experiments, we determined whether (1) rats exhibit place preference for floor vibration over other aversive stimuli (i.e., water, foot shock, and bright light), (2) exposure to floor vibration is associated with a lower corticosterone response than exposure to these other stimuli, (3) rats successfully acqui

SUBMITTER: Lawrence-Sidebottom D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8475976 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature