著者

松尾 康平 海住 太郎 中園 智晶 渡邉 慶 鈴木 隆文

出版者

一般社団法人 電気学会

雑誌

電気学会論文誌C(電子・情報・システム部門誌) (ISSN:03854221)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.136, no.9, pp.1324-1334, 2016-09-01 (Released:2016-09-01)

参考文献数

30

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Dual-task paradigm is a behavioral procedure in which subjects are required to perform two independent tasks in parallel, each of which involves a distinct stimulus-response association that leads to a unique goal. Although dual tasks are widely used in human studies, they are seldom used in animals. One such rare case was a rat simultaneous temporal processing (STP) task, in which rats were asked to time two different intervals simultaneously(1). However, there are a few limitations in this paradigm, such that, for example, each of the two component tasks was not clearly associated with a unique stimulus-response association. In this report, in order to better characterize temporal dual-task performance in rats, we developed a modified version of the STP task that was comprised of two clearly-divided component tasks, and equipped our experimental system with a novel video-based motion tracking system. We show that even under this more rigidly controlled dual-task setting, rats are able to time two different intervals virtually without interference, and that our tracking system can simultaneously detect head-direction and body-location of a rat with high accuracy. These results suggest that the present experimental paradigm should be useful for investigating cognitive processes that underlie dual-task performance at both the behavioral and neuronal levels.