Banca de DEFESA: JOSÉ WANDERSON OLIVEIRA SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : JOSÉ WANDERSON OLIVEIRA SILVA
DATE: 10/03/2023
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Sala Virtual PPgEEC
TITLE:

Improved Behavioral Box for Analysis of Tactile Discrimination Tasks in Rodents

KEY WORDS:

Somatosensory stimuli; Rodent behavior; behavioral box

PAGES: 65
BIG AREA: Ciências Exatas e da Terra
AREA: Ciência da Computação
SUBÁREA: Metodologia e Técnicas da Computação
SPECIALTY: Processamento Gráfico (Graphics)
SUMMARY:

Among the research works carried out with rodents in the area of Neuroscience, behavioral studies stand out. In order to carry out these studies, closed and controlled platforms are generally used in which the rodent is inserted, and tasks are elaborated, depending on the study, which the rodent must carry out. To study the learning of behaviors from tactile discrimination, for example, tasks are usually accompanied by a reward, normally following the reinforcement learning model. These platforms are commonly known as behavioral boxes. In this proposal, we aim to improve the methodologies and techniques used in this research area, developing new technologies for this type of study, including the automation of some procedures with the behavioral box aimed at tactile discrimination tasks. We did some initial tests of a behavioral box, using a computational model of physical simulation, from which we designed a new structure for the platform, with the best-elaborated spaces and materials, and using only components that can be bought in the market or easily developed. Our demonstrated hypothesis is that this new structure for the behavioral box improves the study of models related to the sensorimotor system in a more refined way. For example, the platform design enables more precise control of the opening of the discrimination bars, which is currently not done satisfactorily. The final model also allows for the design of more complex decision-making experiments using the camera and sensor system, allowing a better evaluation of rodent performance. This includes improvements in determining the number of correct answers in the tasks performed in the studies in question. Therefore, as a main practical contribution, we believe that the present study provides that laboratories that work with this type of research can enjoy a low-cost tool that is easy to develop. All material and documents developed are available on a multi-user collaborative platform.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1345674 - LUIZ MARCOS GARCIA GONCALVES
Externo ao Programa - 1170845 - BRUNO MARQUES FERREIRA DA SILVA - UFRNExterno ao Programa - 2244846 - JULIO CESAR PAULINO DE MELO - UFRNExterno à Instituição - ANDERSON ABNER DE SANTANA SOUZA - UERN
Externo à Instituição - ANDOUGLAS GONÇALVES DA SILVA JÚNIOR - IFRN