TR Control.zip

This script and associated sequence is an example of interacting with a Telemetry Research interface. The script creates a toolbar which allows the user to control sampling and set the duration of recording periods and gaps.

Digital output 0 of the 1401 should be connected to the trigger input of the Telemetry Research transmitter and DAC 0 connected to the external channel select input to select a channel between 1 and 12. The signal you want to sample should then be connected to ADC 0.

This script requires Spike2 v5.17 or higher.

Lick 02.zip

This online script is intended for training a laboratory animal to respond to a stimulus by providing a reward when the desired behaviour is elicited within a specified time window. The script triggers the test stimulus at random intervals, records the behaviour and triggers reward delivery when the required criteria are met. The script also generates counts and plots vs. time of: "hits", "misses", "false positives" and "rejections" (where a rejection is a lack of response in random time windows between stimuli.

Specifically, the script is designed for studies of the type described by Paricio-Montecinos et al (2020). Here the stimulus is innocuous warming or cooling of the glabrous skin of a thirsty mouse's forepaw. The behaviour monitored is licking the spout of a water bottle and the reward is water, only delivered in response to licks during the thermal stimulus. Such studies aim to investigate perceptual thresholds and peripheral and central neural mechanisms of thermo-sensitivity.

The script might, with small modifications, also be useful for other learning or Go/No Go studies that involve different stimuli, behaviour and rewards, e.g. visual cues eliciting lever presses for a food reward.

Reference: Paricio-Montecinos et al. Sensory Coding of Warm Perception, Neuron 106, 830–841 (2020)

Requirements:
Hardware - Micro 1401 MkII or higher (plus appropriate hardware to generate the stimulus and provide the reward when triggered).

Software - Spike2 v9.19 or higher

calib.zip

This script allows the user to calibrate the scale and offset of waveform channels in a sampling configuration. First create a sampling configuration (or load in a previous one) and then run the script. You can sample data into a temporary data file. When sampling this data, you should make the waveform that you wish to calibrate stay at two distinct known levels for a short period of time.

You can then press the "Calibrate" button. This enables you to select the two level sections of waveform data in a channel and to specify what values they SHOULD be. The script will then alter the channel scale and offset in the sampling configuration to achieve those values.