C3: Behavior Automation

C3：行为自动化

• 批准号: 10705970
• 负责人: Carlos D Brody
• 金额: $ 32.13万
• 依托单位: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-08 至 2028-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10705970
• 关键词: Animals; Automation; Behavior; Behavioral; Behavioral Research; Cognitive; Collaborations; Communities; Data; Data Science; Databases; Decision Making; Documentation; Ensure; Face; Foundations; Goals; Grant; Health; Individual; Intervention; Laboratories; Left; Maintenance; Measurement; Methodology; Methods; Neurosciences; Optics; Pupil; Reproducibility; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Resources; Rewards; Rodent; Schedule; Services; Short-Term Memory; Standardization; System; Training; Water; Work; design; experimental study; human error; imaging system; improved; innovation; laboratory experience; laboratory experiment; neural circuit; neuromechanism; programs; repository; tool; virtual reality; web site

Project Summary/Abstract: Core 3, Behavior Automation The main goal of this U19 project is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying working memory and decision-making. As a consequence, each research project in this application involves rodents trained on cognitively demanding tasks that require the animals to accumulate evidence to make decisions. All these animals are trained in the Behavior Automation Core’s central facility, which provides shared virtual-reality (VR) and non-VR behavioral rigs, standardizing behavior across the research projects. The first aim of this core is to provide this standardized behavioral training facility with cutting-edge efficiency and automation. As demand for our services increases, we will continue to expand its capacity. We have developed a miniature VR rig that will allow us to double the number of rigs in our space. As the training facility expands, the number of animals that each technician handles will increase as well, requiring us to develop new automation tools to ensure the health of the animals and the quality of the data. This core will develop and integrate new tools into the existing high-throughput workflow to reduce human error and improve technician interventions. We will also improve our systems to support and maintain experimental rigs; manage technician hiring, training, and scheduling to meet demand; and oversee technicians’ workflow, animal management, and facility regulatory compliance. The core’s second aim is to design a modular behavioral rig that meets diverse experimental needs. Rather than redesigning the rigs to accommodate new experiments, which would impose a substantial barrier to innovation, we plan to develop a modular rig that will provide a shared framework for diverse experimental needs. We will design and develop new modules, fitting them into the existing workflows or creating new workflows to store and share the generated data across all the research projects and other resource cores. Finally, the third aim is to provide behavioral resources for the neuroscience community. To share our methods with the broader scientific community, we are developing a website that contains comprehensive and easy-to-navigate documentation. This website will provide resources such as a detailed explanation of how to build experimental rigs, maintenance routines, a comprehensive description of facility workflow, how to set up the behavioral database and integrate it with the rigs, and animal workflows. By providing this information, we hope to facilitate wider standardization of these methods. This resource will enable researchers around the world to introduce automated training for well-controlled, cognitively demanding tasks in their own laboratories. In summary, our shared behavioral training facility will support the experimental components of all the research projects within this U19 program. More generally, we expect that our pioneering methods for automating and managing animal training, when shared with the broader community, will improve efficiency, rigor, and reproducibility in behavioral research across the field of neuroscience.

项目摘要/摘要：核心3，行为自动化 该U19项目的主要目标是阐明工作记忆和 决策。结果，此应用中的每个研究项目都涉及接受训练的啮齿动物 认知要求的任务要求动物积累证据以做出决定。所有这些 在行为自动化核心的中央设施中对动物进行了培训，该设施提供了共享的虚拟现实（VR） 和非VR行为钻机，在整个研究项目中标准化行为。该核心的第一个目的是 提供这种标准化的行为培训设施，并具有最先进的效率和自动化。作为对的需求 我们的服务增加了，我们将继续扩大其能力。我们已经开发了一个微型VR钻机 允许我们将空间中的钻机数量增加一倍。随着训练设施的扩大，动物数量 每个技术人员的操作也将增加，要求我们开发新的自动化工具，以确保 动物的健康和数据质量。该核心将开发并将新工具集成到现有 高通量工作流程，以减少人为错误并改善技术人员干预措施。我们还将改善 我们的系统支持和维护实验钻机；管理技术人员招聘，培训和安排 满足需求；并监督技术人员的工作流程，动物管理和设施监管合规性。 核心的第二个目的是设计一个满足潜水员实验需求的模块化行为钻机。 而不是重新设计钻机以适应新的实验，这将施加实质性的障碍 为了创新，我们计划开发一个模块化钻机，该钻机将为潜水员实验的共同框架提供共同的框架 需要。我们将设计和开发新的模块，将它们拟合到现有的工作流程中或创建新的模块 在所有研究项目和其他资源核心中存储和共享生成的数据的工作流程。 最后，第三个目标是为神经科学社区提供行为资源。分享我们的 与更广泛的科学界的方法，我们正在开发一个包含全面和的网站 易于浏览的文档。该网站将提供有关如何详细说明的资源 建立实验钻机，维护程序，对设施工作流程的全面描述，如何设置 行为数据库并将其与钻机和动物工作流程集成在一起。通过提供此信息，我们 希望促进这些方法的更广泛的标准化。该资源将使研究人员围绕 全世界引入自动化的培训，以在自己的实验室中进行良好控制，认知要求的任务。 总而言之，我们共同的行为培训设施将支持所有研究的实验组成部分 该U19程序中的项目。更普遍地，我们希望我们的开创性方法自动化和 当与更广泛的社区共享时，管理动物培训将提高效率，严格性，并且 神经科学领域的行为研究中的可重复性。