Rodent Touchscreen Behavioral Studies- The Software

1. Rodent Touchscreen Behavioral Studies- The Software Julie Gill,Ph.D.

2. Presentation Overview The aim of this presentation to cover functions of the software often missed by users.

3. Installing a virtual system In order to play learn about the system and make changes to schedules as required, you may find it useful to install a virtual system on a computer away from the lab. If you have not been already provided with this virtual install, please contact Campden/Lafayette for a download.

4. Upgrading the ABET Software If you have internet access, then updates can be downloaded automatically: • Open the Help menu • Select ‘Check for updates’ • Follow instruction in top right corner

5. Schedule Designer To open a schedule in the Schedule Designer • Click on the Schedule Designer Tab • Click the ‘Open’ icon and select the schedule you wish to view

6. Changing the Schedule Name To copy the schedule to a new name, simply type a new name in the ‘Schedule Name’ box and click the ‘Save’ icon.

7. Changing variables To change a ‘Variable’ from within the Schedule Designer • Scroll down and select the variable to be changed. • Click the ‘Edit’ icon • Change the value as required and click ‘OK’. Edit icon

8. Changing variables Excerpt from the Pairwise Discrimination Manual showing the variables that the user can change

9. Viewing variables To change which ‘Variables’ can be viewed from the ‘Monitor’ when viewing live data from more than one box at a time, tick/untick the ‘Add to summary’ box as required

10. Changing Lists To change a ‘List’ from within the Schedule Designer • Scroll down and select the List to be changed. • Click the Edit icon • Alter the selection mode if required • Alter the list values using the ‘Add’, ‘Insert’, ‘Edit’ etc. buttons on the right. • Click ‘OK’ when finished

11. List Selection Choices The different selection modes change how the next value selected from within the program is determined. When Truly Random or Random Equal Number are selected, then a further ‘Restriction’ can be applied, so that the same value is not selected more than x times in a row.

12. Images Images are always selected from a list. The correct mask positions should be selected from the Grid Layout drop down list Different images can be added by clicking ‘Add’

13. Schedule conditions To run the Standard Schedules you don’t need to alter the conditions. This will be covered in more detail in the advanced training.

14. Finalizing Schedules Once you are happy with a schedule it is advised that you finalize/lock that schedule before running it for your experiments: • First give the schedule a version number by clicking on ‘Add/Change Version. • Then lock this version by clicking on ‘Finalize Version’. Your schedule cannot now be changed, so you will always know exactly what schedule was run for any particular experiment. If further changes are required, then they can be achieved by creating a further version number for that schedule.

15. Provided Schedules All our schedules come complete with habituation and training schedules, designed to get you up and running with the schedules as soon as possible. Further details on both the schedules and the training are covered in the schedule manual.

16. Testing Lines Programs are provided with all schedules to test the hardware prior to testing

17. Testing I/O Lines Individually Lines can be tested from the Environment Designer: • Select a chamber (environment). • Click the test icon (the green check mark) from the Tool Bar Menu Tick the line box • Toggle Output lines to turn on lights, feeders etc. • Physically activate Input lines (food tray, activity beams, etc). The line on the screen will be marked red while it is on). • Click ‘x’ to exit test mode.

18. Setting the Database You will need to select the database into which the data will be saved. If there is only one database, then this will be selected automatically, otherwise select the required database by using the drop down menu to the right of ‘Database’.

19. Creating new databases

20. Max Schedule Time and Max number of trials Prior to running schedules put in the maximum number of trials and maximum schedule time. The schedule will end as soon as either is reached. Clicking in the ‘Max Schedule Time’ entry box will bring up a … box. Clicking on this will allow you to enter the time in minutes and seconds

21. Session Fields Some session fields/variables have been provided. These can be altered or added to via the ‘Session Fields’ section in the Preferences window. To add new field write the field name over ‘[Add New]’. Ticking the ‘Required’ box ensures that the schedule will not start until this field has been filled.

22. Required Fields If you try to run an experiment without filling in all the required fields, then an error message as shown here will appear.

23. Debugging Selecting ‘Yes’ in the ‘Allow Debugging’ option allows you to see where you are in the program as the schedule runs. Note: This should never be switched to ‘Yes’ when an actual experiment is being run, as it slows the processes and can upset the timings.

24. Changing Variables Variables can be changed prior to running the schedule, from the Properties tab. The values already entered are those shown by opening the Schedule in the Schedule Manager.

25. Adding Notes You can add notes to the schedule, while it is running by typing into the ‘Notes’ area on the ‘Session’ tab. These will not be time stamped, so remember to record the Session time if this is important.

26. Saving Experiments You can save settings in the Execution manager by clicking on ‘Save Experiment As…’ in the ‘File’ menu. This will allow you to open these settings for future experiments by clicking on ‘Open Experiment’.

27. Running Experiments To run the programs: • Select the chambers to be started • Click the ‘Play’ icon • Select the ‘All Environments’ line to see the monitor for all running chambers at the same time • ‘Status’ will tell you when the schedules have finished. Schedules can also be paused or stopped at any time, by clicking the appropriate icons • Once the Schedule has finished, click the X icon to unload the schedule. • Results are downloaded to the selected database at the end of the session.

28. The Whisker Server The Whisker Server can be used to: • Observe what the subject is seeing on the screen • Manually turn Input lines on and off (required for virtual testing) • Respond to the screen. • Run programs in a virtual mode.

29. The Whisker Server Lines This table shows how the Whisker lines correspond to the ABET lines (where the lines are named).

30. Viewing and controlling I/O To control Lines from the Whisker Server: • Select the ‘Digital line status’ from the left tree menu • Select the input required. • Use the ‘1’ and ‘0’ on your keyboard to turn line on and off • To release lines for normal schedule control select the ‘Free (unpeg) all lines’ in the ‘Line’ menu

31. Viewing and controlling I/O To control Lines from a pop out box: • Select ‘Line details’ from the ‘Line’ menu • Enter the Whisker line number for the line you want to control and click ‘Update’. • Select ‘Free..’ ‘Forced ON’ and ‘Forced OFF’ as required.

32. Viewing the touchscreens To view the touchscreens from the Whisker Server: • Open the Display devices tree • Select the chamber you wish to see

33. Viewing the touchscreens To respond to the touchscreens from the Whisker Server: • Open the Display menu • Select/Tick the ‘Enable mouse/keyboard input to server’s copy’

34. Data Analysis Select the database (or all databases) you wish to search.

35. Data Analysis • Use either the ‘Date Ranges’ or ‘Search Text’ to limit the data shown for selection. • Click ‘Search with selected criteria’ to see the data conforming to the search criteria. • Select the data you want to analyse. • Click ‘Load selected sessions’

36. Data Analysis • Whether all or only some of the data loaded is selected for comparison is determined by the tick boxes. • Clicking ‘Open Tabs will bring up a separate tab for each of the selected data

37. Data Analysis • By clicking on the Set tabs the individual data for each session can be seen, including the raw data. • The ‘View’ tab shows the same data for the earliest (in date) loaded program • We won’t go into details of the individual data analysis available here, but more information can be found in the ‘help manual’.

38. Data Analysis Clicking on the ‘Select’ tab will bring us back to the widow where data can be compared. There are 5 tabs available in the ‘Select’ section: • Summary ‘Session Information’ • ‘Event Totals’ • ‘Bin Analysis’ • Filtered ‘Analysis’ data • ‘Tools’

39. Filtering data Usually the easiest and best way to obtain the data you require is to use the ‘Analysis’ tab. This enables you to run the filters created in the ‘Analysis Set Designer’ (either those supplied with the schedule or ones you have created or amended yourselves). • The analysis files available are those in the Analysis file selected via the Preferences menu (found under the main ‘Edit’ menu). • Any subfolders present within this folder are also available using the ‘Analysis Subfolder’ drop down menu. • To filter the data select the sessions to be analysed, select the appropriate Analysis file and click ‘Execute Analysis’

40. Filtering data Once filtered the data can be viewed either by grouping: • the same measures for each session analysed (‘By Analysis Type) • All the measures for the same session (‘By Session’) Rows can then be selected for export to other packages, such as Excel by right clicking on the selected rows. Right clicking on the data cells and selecting ‘Configure column filter’ will allow columns to be deselected.

41. Report Editor A more convenient way of getting the data from the measures available from the filtered data is to create and run a report: • Click the ‘Report Editor’ • Select the data you require. In the case of latency data select from the ‘Aggregation list’ • Change the column heading by typing in either the Key or Col. Alias windows as appropriate • Click Add column

42. Report Editor • To rearrange the column or row order select a column using the left and right arrows on your keyboard. • Rearrange the order using the ‘Shift’ buttons • Rearrange the row priority using the down arrow that appears above the selected row. • Once happy with the report it can be saved for further data analysis by clicking ‘Save Template’ • Right click on the report data to export to other software packages

43. Environment Designer- Standard line allocations

44. Changing line allocations To change the name of a line: • Untick to release from the current name • Write the new name in the ‘name’ box (or use down arrow to select from list if already present) • Tick the line box

45. Amending the Environment file • The environment can be saved to a new name by clicking on the ‘Environment’ menu at the top of the page and selecting ‘Advanced/Save as’ The default file is called ‘Environments.abetEnvs’ • The ‘Advanced menu can also be used to open other environment files. • You can lock your environment file from further accidental editing by clicking on the ‘Environment Editing Lock’

46. Analysis Set Designer • All data pertaining to the schedule is saved. • The Analysis Sets are used to filter out the data required. • Analysis sets have been provided for all the pre-written tasks • These can be amended via the Analysis Set Designer

47. Analysis Set Properties If you wish to copy an Analysis Set to another name, do this from outside ABET as you would for any other file. To use the Analysis Set Designer fully, you need to link the ‘Set’ to the relevant program: • Load the Analysis Set using the ‘Open’ icon. • Click on the ‘Edit Properties’ in the ‘Analysis Set Designer’ menu • Use the ‘Browse’ button to find the relevant schedule file (stored in the ‘ABET Schedule Folder’ by default)

48. Analysis Items An Analysis Item is a group of one or more measures, which can be: • Measure/Paths (used to calculate latencies). • Bout Analysis (used to record bursts of activity). • Instance counts (how many times a particular response was made). • Evaluation (Used to record measures when a particular evaluation is met , such as end of the Schedule). • Call (used to record Items that have been recorded as ‘define only’). • Time bin evaluation (records measures at regular time intervals).

49. Analysis Points There are two additional icons • * Insert (this is not currently operational) • Analysis Point Wizard Analysis Points select time stamps from the raw data that meet the design criteria and from which the measure can be calculated.

50. Editing Points Analysis points can be created or edited using either the Text Build or the Tree Build. Above shows these two views for the ’10 Trial Block’ condition (PD Analysis)